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Beth Jordan

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Beth Jordan, Lace Lady, 1984
Welwyn, Hertfordshire, old lace, portobello road,chinese lace

It happened by chance

It seems such a long time ago that I started my business and people still ask me how it all began.

I had been teaching and stopped to have my first child.  I was undecided about returning to teaching and a friend of mine in the Antiques business suggested I look at developing an antiques business as it would suit my new lifestyle of raising a child.  I had to smile at this suggestion as I had no idea which area of antiques I should get involved in. I had no more than £30 saved. I  started to explore  local Markets, buying bric a brac like Bretby vases, old  1930s tea sets, an old table cloth here and there.  As I continued  I was drawn  to the old textiles, especially  old laces and anything white – victorian  flouncy petticoats, lace inserted camisoles, old Chinese  silk embroidered blouses – anything which would have been made –“one stitch at a time”. 


I would get up early rush down to Portobello Market in London, under the arches, come home laden with bags of old lace and clothes, wash, mend  iron (well my Mother did that bit) and rise at dawn  and head out in the early morning, setting  up in Hampstead,  Camden Market,  Codicote in Hertfordshire to resell to the discerning general public.  My little son, by now four, would be enticed to come along with the promise of lots of playtime and play he did.


Gradually I found the area I most wanted to develop and this was an old lace known as tape lace or Battenberg.


Summer  1981 our family was in Venice. At a local market,  one of the stalls was selling  piles and piles of the same antique look alike  tape lace  (Battenberg) tablecloths, bedspreads, which we were informed were Italian.  Ha ! not true.  We discovered the source, wrote to a Chinese supplier and my first consignment came  in 16 large cartons which Lunn Antiques in London snapped up.

I can no longer remember who advised me to contact Blakes Hotel in London run by Anouschka Hemple, an actress and hotelier, who at the time furnished her  hotel with this same lace. They  bought a huge amount.  Next came  And so to Bed in London - who  told me about Harvey Nichols, so  I knocked on that  door, then Selfridges, workiing my way through the London retail stores and then I   did the very first Top Drawer Show at the top of the old Derry and Toms Store in South Kensington amid the pink flamingoes.

  

So much excitement, halcyon days of wonderful opportunities to sell these glorious textiles under the brand name of Lace Lady.  



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Early Days

Great Wall of China 1980s

From Welwyn, Hertfordshire to China

Back in 1982 I had never travelled on my own, and certainly not to a Communist Country like China. But I was intrepid, I was an adventurer, fearless. 

With £2000 and an overnight bag, took a plane to Hong Kong in October 1982, stepped out of  Kai Tak Airport late in the evening, hot and humid with not a clue as to what to do next, I know I wanted to be a big Hong! I boarded  the last ferry out of Hong Kong and sailed down the Pear River to Canton in the early hours of the morning for my first visit to the Canton Fair.

Photo - Great Wall of China  1986

Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, Christ the Redeemer

Looking for new lace - Brazil 1992

After a few years,  having explored the Chinese market with all its beautiful laces and embroideries   I wanted to  find out what the Western World Market had to offer.  I'd heard Brazil had equally beautiful laces, so travelled to Rio and discovered I had to go   to Fortaleza in North East Brazil  where I discovered  delicate bobbin lace made on a pillow,  for women's and children's clothing.

photo - Rio de Janerio 

Green and peach coloured sari, India

Exquisite silks from India 1994

India being my place of birth, I had to return to the memories of small  cloth shops selling exquisite handloom silk saris, many of them with chinese style  hand embroideries. I created a range of  two tone silk  quilted bedspreads with hand embroidery, oh the colours were so edible. 

photo - vogue India

The Inbetween Years

Henry & Friends, Into Winter Wonderland, storybook

Henry & Friends

As the  years passed and our business developed, especially in the Home Accessories area, being conscious of the changing consumer needs and trends and a hightened awareness of environmental changes, we brought out a new range of recycled wool cushions called Henry & Friends. 

True to our ethos as a business we  developed  cushions  and small accessories, using available recycled wool, for  "cross - body dog walker bags", doorstops, throws, with hand machine embroideries, selling to garden centres and boutiques across the country, delighting many folk with our Town and Country animals who carried a social message.

With our  first Collection in 2016 we wrote  a short illustrated story of Henry & Friends - Into Winter Wonderland - written by Adam Antoszewski, with some help from myself and illustrated by Gloria Wong.


SEE HENRY & FRIENDS STORY AND COLLECTION

2020

Still here after all these years

1982 - 2020 is a long time to have been in business. Some would say that’s amazing, some would say how did you manage to remain in such a volatile and demanding market.

​

I would say that focusing on a particular product area and the business which I have been a part of for so long and being the best that I can be, has enabled me  to ride the rollercoaster of  storms, recessions, challenges, risks, and trends, through all these years. 

My product areas have changed, but my basic ethos for business has not. 

Staying involved

Travelling extensively in countries like China, which have grown almost beyond recognition, especially the big cities, has kept me involved in the changes I have witnessed.

The Brand

My product area – textiles, laces, developing new designs for bags, garments, cushions – always striving for perfection and playfulness, never compromising on quality and

insisting on good business practice, has been the integral part of my business and brand.

​

Retaining the essence of my business, to some extent remaining containable in order to move quickly and swiftly when  required. 

​

The business and brand is still here today as we carefully walk into the future.

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