Charlotte Mills a luxury bridal footwear brand, our most important goal is to create shoes that stand out from the crowd, and are romantic and fun, all whilst being comfortable enough to last the day.
Our shoes have been worn by many different celebrities such as Fearne Cotton and fashion influencer Chessie King, every style is hand-made in Spain using the best materials and craftsmanship.
How did you come up with the idea for the company?
I studied at Cordwainers which is part of London College of Fashion and graduated with BA (Hons) in Product Design & Development for the Fashion Industry.
It was here where I first created a bridal footwear collection for my final degree show and joined the list of Alumni, including Jimmy Choo, Patrick Cox and Sophia Webster.
Having worked for several years for some of the UK’s best-known high street brands, the concept for Charlotte Mills Bridal was still a burning ambition. Using a £20,000 business grant, remortgaging my home and gathering every penny I could find, I launched my eponymous collection in 2014.
What makes us so unique is the glittering silver sixpence within each pair of shoes, becoming our bride’s “something old” the handcrafted delicately embossed words on their luxurious leather soles which, undeniably, have fast become our signature mark.
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How has the company evolved over the last couple of years?
We’ve gone from strength to strength, and proud to say we’re one of the market leaders in the industry.
In terms of products, we’ve expanded our range of wide-fit bridal shoes over the last couple of years, which was an area that was really lacking in the bridal footwear industry. Our collection of matching clutch bags has been a hit with our brides along with the launch of our bridal trainer in April this year which had a wonderful reception, so much so that we’re planning on launching a second trainer design later this year.
Over the last 2 years, we’ve seen exponential growth which has been absolutely amazing considering how detrimental COVID-19 was to the wedding industry. We believe that having such a strong online presence and a user-friendly website was one of the main factors influencing our huge growth, with so much of the bridal industry closed and so many wedding plans coming to a halt, something to keep brides’ spirits high was to do the little things for the big day, like purchasing their dream shoes online. We also improved our packing, creating a luxurious and exciting unboxing experience for every customer.
We’ve also grown from a team of 3 to a team of 9. We’ve just moved into our new HQ which is a much bigger premise which gives us so much more opportunities for growth. We’ve also opened our London Store in Chelsea, giving our brides a place to shop us in-store down south.
What can we hope to see from Charlotte Mills in the future?
We’re ready to scale up and we hope to expand our online presence into new markets, to make it much easier for our international brides to shop our shoes.
We plan to continue to listen to our bride’s testimonials and adjust the range and add new products and lines accordingly, their feedback is always front of mind when designing new styles.