Meet the Yorkshire Slow Fashion Brand, Harriet Eccleston
This is the Sheffield-based fahion house you need to know about
Tell us about yourself.
I’ve always been creative. I grew up in a very creative household where my mum was always doing art projects with us when we came home from school. My granny taught me to knit and my grandma taught me to sew from a young age too. I made clothes for my teddy bears and things like that, and some questionable clothes for myself. Thankfully, with a bit of practice I’ve got better.
I studied BA Fashion at Northumbria University which was really hands-on, and then had a year out in London and worked for a small fashion house called Palmer Harding. I got to experience the day-to-day running of a small independent fashion label and just fell in love with it all. Making the garments individually and that idea of small-scale garment construction was really interesting.
I was very lucky to show at Graduate Fashion Week and got spotted by a stylist and went to Paul Smith – it was an amazing place to work. During that time I won an award called Midlands Fashion Award Young Designer of the Year and so decided to take the plunge and set up my own label.
How does your family inspire your work?
I did my final collection back in Newcastle and started to explore my family more. My family had a menswear shop in the late 1800s and early 1900s. My great, great grandfather had shops in Morpeth and Blyth. My granny grew up working in the shop, and she’d tell me lots of stories about it. The idea of how they produced garments at the time and the quality of the garments they were producing really captured my imagination.
The family shop and a lot of the history from that time is a main source of my inspiration, whether that’s personal stories I was told by family members, or political movements that were happening at the time. I’m very lucky to have lots of photographs and I think, for me, it’s more about the meaning behind the pieces and the emotional connection. I want to create clothes that people can emotionally connect with – you really treasure them and it’s about getting away from that fast fashion cycle.
Who do you design for?
One of the shirts is called the Ava Shirt. It’s about the woman who’s living a really busy life. There are features in the shirt to help you adapt it to whatever you’re doing that day, and it’s really easy to wear for going about your daily life.
Talk us through the design process.
I start by having lots of photographs and I pick out details. Something that’s reminiscent of a time gone by but hopefully in a really contemporary style. I’m very much looking at these images and sitting with an A3 sketchbook. I’ll just sketch away and fill up pages and take details, and then it’s a case of narrowing down the designs. I love meeting my customers and hearing what they want from their clothes because that’s also always in the back of my mind when I’m coming up with new designs. What do we want to wear every day which makes us feel really special?
What changes have you noticed in what customers want?
My business will turn six in February, and when I first started out there wasn’t as much want for what I wanted to do which was create locally-produced garments. I think since the pandemic people have become a lot more aware of where things have been produced – especially in the fashion industry which is such a toxic and wasteful industry.
In terms of what customers want to wear, I launched a casual collection during lockdown which was meaningful, responsibly-crafted sweatshirts and T-shirts, because let’s face it, we were all in our pyjamas. What I found in that was people wanted comfort but also something that was a little bit special. Since then, I’ve predominantly focused on shirts and jackets. There is a growing trend that people work from home a lot more than we did pre-pandemic. I think having pieces that you can dress up and dress down is really important.
Many of your T-shirts have large front pockets, what’s the inspiration behind this?
I was doing a lot of research into the shop and I actually came across a receipt that was made out to Emily Davidson for the dry cleaning of her gloves. It was dated nine months before the Epsom Derby took place and she passed away, but my great, great grandfather keeping that receipt was such a lovely tie to her.
During that period it has been said that the government dissuaded garment manufacturers from putting pockets in women’s clothing. The idea was that the government didn’t want women carrying pamphlets or anything they needed to get their voices heard as part of the Suffragette movement. So that inspired the big pockets – a nod to Emily Davidson and all the women who fought for equality.
How did you come to be based in Sheffield?
I grew up around 45 minutes away from Sheffield – a beautiful part of the world. We’d come to Sheffield to go to galleries, and the heritage behind it was really interesting. I moved my studio to Sheffield about two years ago now and I absolutely love it. I’m very lucky to be in an area called Kelham Island and Sheffield is a brilliant city for design. We’re so lucky to have so many jewellers and ceramicists. It’s a great place to be part of.
What’s coming up in 2025?
Hopefully it’s going to be a really exciting year. I’ve got a couple of new collections planned and we’re going to be doing some trousers which my customers have asked for. There’s also new shirts in new designs, so I’m really looking forward to bringing those out.
For more, visit harrieteccleston.co.uk.
Tell us a hidden gem in Sheffield.
The café opposite is called Depot Bakery and they do the best hot chocolates.
Which fashion designer are you loving right now?
I really admire Amy Powney from Mother of Pearl. I’d really recommend [her] if you’re interested in sustainable fashion.
What’s your go-to wardrobe staple?
I live in my granny’s green coat. Wearing hand-me-downs is a big source of inspiration. She’s got a green wool coat that comes out every year.
