Violet Flamingo celebrates 11 years of business

Date published: 08 December 2022

A bespoke ‘slow fashion’ garment maker in Littleborough celebrates 11 years of business this month.

Violet Flamingo was established in December 2011 by Lindsey James, after deciding to launch her own clothing business making made-to-measure garments.

Originally Lindsey started out making one-of-a-kind garments to order, helping each customer with the design process and choosing the best materials for their design, catering for many brides, mother of the brides, bridesmaids, proms and black-tie events.

She explained: “At that time, larger-sized garments were much harder to purchase and definitely not as exciting as you can buy off the rack now.”

Over the years, Lindsey has created fewer one-of-a-kind pieces, and focuses on her own made-to-order collection, which is entirely handmade at her studio in Ebor Mill, surrounded by many other creative individuals and businesses.

Lindsey – who holds a degree in Fashion Design, Manufacturing, Marketing and Promotion from the University of Huddersfield – continued: “Everything is made in my studio at Ebor and pieces can be customised for each client, so if you love one of my designs but want to choose a different fabric that's fine, you can add embellishments and have it custom cut if you're tall or petite.

“As a child my main interests were anything creative, I have always been at my happiest making something, drawing or painting.

“School wasn't my favourite place but art was where I was the most comfortable; I enrolled at Hopwood Hall to study textiles and fashion. I had no major interest in fashion at the time and I chose this course for the textile modules.

“The more I studied the fashion, the more I fell in love, but two months before the end of the course, I went on an industrial sewing machine and was obsessed. I was due to go to university to study textiles and at the last minute I changed and decided to study fashion.

“It was a risk as I hadn't viewed any of the courses, I applied for but I was just so in love with making clothes – and I still am!”

Lindsey added: “We are a conscious brand, so whether you buy one of our slow fashion pieces or have a preloved piece altered to fit you perfectly, we hope that you'll be wearing that garment for years to come.”

Violet Flamingo also offers an alteration and customisation service for garments, even if they’re not one of Lindsey’s creations.