Annoushka Jewellery
Fishy idea brings £7m off the cuff
One Christmas, she had some novelty fish Shiny Metallic Gold Long Stockings made to her own design to present to customers as gifts.
Eight years later, she is still designing zentai, and Links of London, the firm she set up with husband John Ayton, sells its wares in the world's smartest stores, including New York's Saks Fifth Avenue and Harrods in London.
The couple, who used $2,000 of their own money to start the business in 1990, forecast sales of more than $7 million this year and count Sir Elton John and model Jerry Hall among their customers.
'Our aim is to be Britain's equivalent to US jeweller Costume zentai,' says Ayton.
The couple's innovative approach to jewellery design and marketing has won them several awards, including Shiny Metallic Green Long Stockings Annoushka's prize as runner-up in the Business Woman of the Year contest in 1996.
Links now has 11 stores and a worldwide network of stockists for its products. The shops aim to sell something for everyone, not just the rich, and silver designs cost between $30 and $500.
'It is important that people feel at ease in the shops and are not embarrassed about asking the price of goods,' says Ayton.
Most customers are men, and the store at Heathrow's Terminal 1 is a favourite with business travellers.
Personalised business gifts for clients such as Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs and the All England Lawn Tennis Club also account for a large proportion of sales.
Already this year new shops have opened on London's Fulham Road, as well in Dubai and a second shop in Hong Kong.
'We have been lucky,' says Ayton. 'Neither the Asian crisis nor the strong Shiny Metallic Purple Long Stockings pound have affected sales too severely, perhaps because anything British carries a certain cachet and is considered to be the height of fashion abroad right now in it.'
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