Which brands does Collen & Clare in Southwold sell?

Finding its feet after the retail bomb that was Covid (when its sister outlets closed permanently), the Southwold-based fashion and lifestyle store celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2022...while Vanessa marked her fabulous 50th. 

“It’s been lovely to reminisce. To reach this milestone,” Vanessa smiles. “We’ve had a lot of reasons to be joyful this year!” 

Over the past 12 months Collen & Clare has hosted fashion shows, designed and launched limited edition ‘birthday’ ranges, and re-introduced old customer favourites from the archives to mark the retail destination’s two-decade reign on the coast. 

Beach robes specially made for the shop in collaboration with Bridie and Bert sold out. Artist Louisa Marcq captured the ‘essence of Collen & Clare’ in a bespoke birthday piece. And numerous ‘exclusive to East Anglia’ brands jumped on board. 

“It really has been a whirlwind,” says Vanessa, reflecting not only on 2022, but the past three years. “We’ve been through lots of things in the past and survived. I do feel a bit optimistic for certain shops like ours. The generic high street has faced a well-documented set of challenges with the growth and dominance of online. But if there’s anything positive to come out of the last couple of years, it’s that there’s a genuine desire for customers to go to really really good independent shops. 

“I think there’s an opportunity for mid-sized shops like this, in a great destination, priding itself on customer service, to continue to be supported. There’s the chance to have a resurgence of local, cool high streets.” 

Vanessa believes customers will continue to vote local with their feet, despite the upward trend for online shopping. 

But this means businesses like Collen & Clare have to be forward-thinking, and inspirational.  

“We have to make sure every product has a great story. For example, we’re launching a brand called Ivy Ellis. It’s a husband-and-wife team in Scotland who have an old-fashioned sock-making machine. They can only make 28 pairs a day and they are brilliant socks. However much people want them, we can only ever have so many.  

“We’re about making people fall in love with these kinds of products, understanding why they’re in the shop. There is a reason behind everything. We only buy things we’re really passionate about.  

Vanessa waxes lyrical about local home fragrance and toiletry brand Loggique too...and Mulberry. “We’re their only independent stockist for miles around.” 

Of course, not everyone can afford a designer handbag, but Vanessa says there are products in store at most price points, adding she stands firmly by the ‘buy less, buy better’ movement. Buy one fantastic, beautifully-crafted handbag you know will last a decade or more. Build a capsule wardrobe of classic, well-made clothes that will work seamlessly together while never going out of fashion.

“We’re always having to fight that perception that shops like ours are full of expensive things,” she explains. “We’re not. We’d rather you buy just one pair of jeans that will last you five years, than have you come back over and over again to replace them. We’re so not about fast, disposable fashion. In fact, we’re desperately trying to avoid certain production areas in the world. I ask an awful lot of questions when we’re buying!” 

The fashion industry is far removed from Vanessa’s childhood growing up on the family farm a few miles down the road on the Suffolk/Norfolk border, where she admits she was rather a tomboy. 

Farming was something that never appealed – in fact, she’s allergic to horses so had to steer clear of them in the fields. 

It was a magical time, filled with outdoor adventures and unbounded freedom. “It was very easy to feel like a member of the Famous Five,” she laughs, adding she and her younger sister spent most of their time outside...but there were lots of farm chores to get through too. 

Vanessa has fond memories of the area from that time. Long days in the dunes on Southwold beach stretching out in the summer holidays, popping into the shops to admire counters piled with folded jumpers...and a favourite food shop that sold “the most amazing beef patty pies”. 

With no designs on following in the family footsteps, Vanessa says she always saw herself working in business. 

“In fact, my mother tells a story that when I was offered my place after uni to go and work in London, I said ‘don’t worry mum, I’m going to London, then I'm going to come back and open a shop in Southwold’.” 

She studied management science at Loughborough. And it was during a placement year with a post-it note company that she began to formulate a plot for her future. 

Attending a trade show at Birmingham’s NEC, Vanessa was browsing road safety equipment when she spied a (much more exciting) fashion show in a neighbouring hall. She couldn’t resist a peek, and was instantly fascinated. “The seed was well and truly sown.” 

Though it was nearly a decade before she put her dream into action. Recruited straight out of university, Vanessa joined a London investment bank. “I didn’t know what an investment bank was! I showed up and they were so impressed I was offered a job. I ended up staying in London for nine years.” 

A jolt came before her 10th year in the city. “I could see I didn’t really like the thought of who I’d become if I stayed,” she says, adding she yearned for Suffolk. 

Vanessa moved back, aged 30, with designs on a clothes shop – the idea forming over a glass of wine one evening, with her coming up with the name and ethos for the brand. “Then suddenly we were off, and it was happening and it was mad!” 

The building housing Collen & Clare has been a shop since the 1500s. Former traders have included a draper and clothier with their own in-house milliner. 

“We had a lady who returned here recently and her job as a 13-year-old was to lay the fires in the shop every morning. This place really does have a strong heritage for retail and clothes. We have one girl, Annie, who’s been here for over 40 years!” 

While time and fashions change, Vanessa has been unwavering in the ethos for Collen & Clare since she opened the doors – to bring to Southwold the best edit from some of the best brands, in a relaxed and welcoming way. “From the beginning I wanted people to feel they’d had great customer service, and a choice of great pieces from well-known and lesser-known brands. 

“Our early strapline, which we had for a long time, was that this is a ‘dressing-up box for grown-up girls’. The idea is that you can come in, and I don’t mind if you come in and try on half the shop and buy nothing. It’s about seeing people wearing things, and putting things together.” 

There are several brands that have been with Vanessa since the beginning. The famous French fragrance house Goutal. German brand Oui. Mulberry. 

And the business which has worked with her for 20 years on Collen & Clare own label knitwear. “We know the factory and the processes and the family in Nepal that makes them very well. We try to use blends of pure cashmere, merino, cotton and mixed fabrics. They’re great quality, timeless pieces. Our best-seller has to be the basic cotton rollneck – that never seems to go out of fashion!” 

Labels Vanessa personally adores include Max Mara, whose coats, knitwear and trousers she says are hard to beat, and French skincare range Caudalie. She adds that the shop has been instrumental in building a customer base for the brand, which incorporates by-products from the winemaking industry into its lotions in potions (including a beauty editor favourite micellar water).  

“There’s a small local independent I am fascinated by. It’s a local girl whose business is called Rethread. She’s still at school, but she gathers old mid-century jewellery and restores it, making really cool pieces, mixing them up with pearls and coloured beads. I can see a bright future ahead of her. 

“And we’ve also got Vurchoo jewellery. He was a graffiti artist who got picked up by the Prince’s Trust programme. A portion of the sales from every pair of his Studs of Hope earrings goes to supporting a child’s education in a particular country, from Sudan to Afghanistan – it's a lovely story of someone working so hard and doing brilliant things.” 

In the shoe department Vanessa rates Portuguese designer Esska. “Her first career was as an archivist and she was fed-up with how uncomfortable her shoes were. She created these funky sandals that are so comfortable. What I also like about her is she is very choosy with who she works with.  I think she only stocks six independents in the UK – including us.” The Esska range includes jewel and metallic coloured strappy sandals with chunky heels, and striking boots emblazoned with lightning bolts. 

Post-lockdown, underwear has been an area of growth at Collen & Clare – after all, no one could get fitted for two years, leaving women wearing sorry-looking, saggy old bras that did nothing for their figures...or their backs. 

“We’ve got to remember,” says Vanessa, “that a bra is basically a big piece of elastic. Over time that grows and gets out of shape. We had a complete rush here after lockdown of people desperately wanting to update theirs. 

“I was taught you should change your bra as regularly as your toothbrush, and you really do need to be fitted quite regularly. Bras are fundamental to the way your clothes hang. The right bra can change the way a dress looks on you!” 
Sizes from 28A to 40JJ are carried in store, with a fast turnaround time on special orders from manufacturers, who include Fantasie and Freya. 

“A little-known fact is black bras come up smaller than others. So if you usually have a 34D in ivory, in black it could be tighter. Trying on is always the best idea.” 

Collen & Clare has a spot for women to recycle their old bras, which are shipped off to support ladies in developing countries. 

But it’s not just the female form that gets a look-in. The store stocks a “small but very important” array of items for men from “some of the cooler brands in the UK”. That includes Oliver Spencer, a Japanese label called Edwin, Loake shoes, Belstaff and Barbour. “We’re not street cool, but we do try to offer something interesting – lovely stuff that feels nice, for a wide range of ages. For me,” says Vanessa, “it’s all about the fit and fabric.” 

At a time when retailers have to fight harder than ever to entice shoppers through the door, Vanessa says she hopes being experiential, and having genuinely warm, inviting and knowledgeable staff will see Collen & Clare remain an important part of the local indy community. 

“We have the best customers. We know a lot of them by name, and have a great time with them. There’s always a buzz on the shop floor – everyone's always busy. 

“Clothes can really elevate your mood, and good clothes can make you feel more confident. I adore when customers come in, find something they love that makes them feel amazing, and walk out with a smile on their faces. It’s why we do what we do. There’s nothing better than seeing someone get their sparkle back.” 

collenandclare.com 

Christmas at Collen & Clare 

Vanessa says sparkle is back – as we peel ourselves out of our comfy lockdown PJs and venture out to office parties and festive get-togethers again. 

“We’re seeing a lot of black velvet sparkles, and giant sparkly earrings. People seem ready to shine this year and there’s a big demand for ‘dressy up’ outfits. We’ve just had a new delivery from a brilliant company called Traffic People from Chelmsford with lots of glitzy layers of gold and velvet.” 

As for gifts. “For me the candles by Goutal are perfect. They have a Winter Forest scent that even my daughter says smells like the essence of Christmas. Oh and I recommend Philipa Kunish earrings too!” 

New year, new look

Vanessa has some thoughts on what customers will be choosing early on in 2023. “With this weather and everyone wanting to stay warm, we will have a lot of basic knitwear and great coats in. Then, leading into spring and summer, we found in 2022 that customers (because it was so hot) were looking for cooling dresses in lightweight fabrics. We’ll have a lot more of that in store...and more options for event dressing as the calendar begins to fill up again. 

“And if you can buy one shade made it green. It’s huge and I don’t see it going anywhere anytime soon.”