Business Leaders: Take 5 Jade Robertson of Little Lies Clothing

Founded by Jade Robertson and husband Stuart, Little Lies, the independent, online fashion and lifestyle boutique, has been building into one of Perthshire’s most creative success stories since its launch in 2015.

The Perthshire-based company may have appeared as a ready-to-rock, perfectly formed idea but the groundwork had been a decade in the making. Inspired by her love of ‘70s fashion and music icons, and shaped by her student years at the Royal Conservatoire in Glasgow and her experiences working in the event, theatre and music industry, Jade’s singular vision of a rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle platform provided a clear, bold and vibrant brand message from the outset.

In the eight years since, the brand has become synonymous with quality fashion and lifestyle pieces and boasts a customer base that spans the UK, America, and until recently, Europe. In 2021 Stuart joined the business full time as Managing Director, allowing Jade the time and energy required to execute the launch of their first own-label clothing collection in her capacity as Creative

Director. The company now boasts an annual turnover of circa £2 million but Jade and Stuart’s ambitious plans are only just beginning. Little Lies is targeted to reach £10 million turnover and 100% own-brand stock by 2025, and in doing so will become one of Scotland’s largest, independently owned, fashion labels.

Q1.

How did Little Lies start?

As a teenager I was obsessed with ‘70s style and the rock stars from that time and as far back as 14 I was making and altering my own clothes. I staged my first fashion and music event, Rock The Catwalk, when I was 17 and over the four years that followed we raised £50,000 for charity – so although the company officially launched in 2015, the creative direction of the business, its heart and soul, has been around for years.

My studies at the Royal Conservatoire and work in backstage production fuelled this rock and roll passion but when it came to my wardrobe, I struggled to find what I was looking for. I wanted quality, well-made clothing that I could wear for years to come – we call it future vintage at Little Lies – but all the High Street offered was fast-fashion, festival clothing that was designed to be worn once and thrown away and I didn’t have time to trawl charity shops regularly.

I knew there was an opportunity and I’d thought through various business models before telling Stuart my idea – in the car on the way home from a gig, of course! Once I had it in my sights, I knew exactly how the brand would look and feel, and with Stuart’s business background we were confident we had the combined skills to make it work. We invested a few thousand of savings each, a friend helped build the website and I studied YouTube tutorials day and night to hone my e-commerce skills!

Q2. How quickly did it grow, and what were your major milestones?

Well, we outgrew the spare bedroom pretty quickly! We went from £12,700 in year one to £50,000 in year two and then from there we doubled and tripled year on year; by the end of year four we were at £500,000 and in year five we broke the million-pound turnover mark.

Our first move was to a bigger house, and we started doing pop-ups in farmers’ markets, at large company headquarters, tattoo conventions and events, but within a couple of years we’d outgrown that too. In September 2017 we made the move into retail premises with a large basement that housed the online business.

The shop was a very different experience. Having that one-to-one interaction with our customers helped brand development hugely – for instance, talking directly about issues around sizing and fit gave more detail than an online form ever could. However, it was also distracting; it was easy to listen to individual preferences instead of looking at broad data and that’s not commercially viable when buying for a market.

In January 2020 we had outgrown the retail unit and had drawn up plans looking at three different models: stick to traditional retail, stick to online only, or move forward with a hybrid model. By March, we were in lockdown and after the initial shock – are we going to lose it all? – we threw ourselves back into the online model and our decision was made.

Covid gave us the time we needed to stop and think. Working from the kitchen table again showed us how much we could do when we weren’t running two businesses and we came out of it stronger, leaner and more focused. I loved the shop, and I learned a lot from it, but now, I can’t believe how much time I spent hoovering and dusting instead of focusing on growing!

In August 2020 we moved into the distribution unit and Head Office space at Glencarse. We thought we might have to sublet to meet the rent but instead we had shipping containers in the car park and my mum tagging band T-shirts to keep up with demand!

A year later, we leased the unit next door giving us 3626 ft2 for the Little Lies HQ, and an additional 3950 ft2 for our fulfilment warehouse. At that point, Stuart left his job to give his full attention to Little Lies.

We’ve not stopped since! We’ve launched our own label, which has meant recruiting a product development team with designer and photographer (more on page 6) and won Business of the Year at the 2022 Perthshire Chamber of Commerce Awards.

Q3. How did you go about changing your operation to facilitate the increase in sales?

Stuart’s business background informed a lot of our early decisions and from the outset we’ve worked hard to establish solid foundations, always thinking about the processes and structure of the business to ensure we’re financially efficient and looking after the workplace wellbeing for all members of the team.

Getting this right has helped hugely; of course, we’ve had to tweak and upgrade various elements along the way but that joint skills base – me on product development and attention to quality and Stuart on operational and financial strategy – has allowed us to expand organically. It remains our key strength.

Q4. How have you maintained your vision and ethos as the company expanded?

Maintaining the core vision of Little Lies has never been difficult because it was never about a corporate identity, it was an extension of my personality and passion – Little Lies has grown with me.

Since we launched, we’ve got married, had a baby, and renovated two houses. I’m a different person, with different needs and wants for my wardrobe. I’ve been every size from an 8 to a 14 and I have a much deeper understanding of women’s bodies because mine has changed. I think our customers appreciate that.

We’ve always focused on customer care; I want people to have an experience when they receive their Little Lies package. From the outset all our wholesale stock has been repackaged into Little Lies branded tissue and labels, with a note from the team. This attention to detail plays a big part in connecting with our customers – it felt less churned out than other online boutiques – so when we launched our own brand, we had a loyal customer base ready to go. Over the past 12 months, 57% of our customers are returning.

Q5. What’s next for Little Lies?

We’re planning to supercharge the business! Our ambition is to grow to 100% own brand and make good on our promise of selling only Future Vintage. To do this, we need to get the positioning spot on but with 8 years’ worth of data we’re confident we can get this right first time. (More on page 6)

Strategically, we need to grow our audience; we have 90,000 followers on Instagram and 250,000 followers across the board but that needs to be millions to make our dream a reality.

Find Out More: LittleLies.com