WHAT'S not to love about Mint Velvet?

 

It is a fast growing British brand that takes emerging fashion trends and re-interprets them to ensure that season after season they create wearable womenswear collections.

Indeed the phrase, 'relaxed glamour' underpins the brand and is the bedrock of its design ethos meaning each garment is created to work effortlessly within a woman's wardrobe.

It's somewhat surprising to discover the brand began relatively recently in 2009.

Founded by three women, Liz Houghton, CEO of the brand, Jane Rawlings, the creative director and Lisa Agar-Rea the brand director, who were all working mothers with busy modern lifestyles frustrated by the offerings on the high street.

The trio were inspired by a desire to create collections which had a luxurious every day feel to them, designing pieces that enable them to look effortlessly stylish, even on the busiest of days.

The designs were minus the kinds of price tags you would normally expect to accompany the luxury fabrics they loved and so they bit the bullet and created Mint Velvet.

The concept of relaxed understated glamour was born.

It's a concept - of identifying gaps in the market, the missing links in the modern woman's wardrobe, then presenting their customers with solutions at keen prices - that has been the key to their success.

It has ensured the brand has grown exponentially in the last six years with the collection now incorporating a full range of dresses, trousers, jeans, shirts, tops, skirts, knitwear, shoes, handbags and accessories.

In Glasgow up until now a concise Mint Velvet edit has been available on the 3rd floor of House of Fraser, but they have recently moved to a much larger area on the 2nd floor.

Claire Thompson, Mint Velvet area manager, said: "Mint Velvet are very excited to have launched our first ever, indeed unique, solus concept store within a store, in this case the fabulous House of Fraser.

"As an existing brand within the store, we have gained amazing loyalty from our fan base and the greatest thing is that we can now offer both our long standing and brand new customers an even bigger and better variety including jewellery, scarves, handbags, and for the first time, our strongest footwear range to date."

The new space occupies an airy room that is solely dedicated to the Mint Velvet brand.

Claire added: "Here we can offer our customers a defined personal shopping service from our team of trained and knowledgeable Style Advisors with the benefit of bright and spacious fitting rooms on site.

"Customers can have a look around, browse the collections or simply relax with a coffee and read a fashion magazine for some trend inspiration.

"We really have tried to cover it all for our fans of Mint Velvet in Glasgow."

Alistair Johnston, the General Manager House of Fraser, Glasgow said: "We are pleased to expand the existing Mint Velvet offering within House of Fraser Glasgow, further enhancing the breadth of our Womenswear offer within the store.

"The extended range has a real synergy with the Glasgow shopper which I'm sure will prove to be a continued success.

"Their strong presence in Britain's leading department store is augmented by a strong online identity and an increased amount of standalone concept stores in the UK, with 2015 seeing Mint Velvet eyeing international expansion.

"Although for now we're happy with their decision to create an oasis of calm overlooking the hustle and bustle of Buchanan Street in our very own dear green city."

Mint Velvet, House of Fraser Glasgow. www,houseoffraser.co.uk

Also shop the latest Mint Velvet collections at www.mintvelvet.co.uk