Born in Helensburgh, Scotland, Kim was the youngest and first female Director of Marks & Spencer Plc, Chief Executive of Pringle of Scotland, CEO of Aquascutum, and advisor to Natalie Massenet at Net-a-Porter.
With this highly respected career in fashion behind her, Kim set up Winser London in 2013, identifying an important gap in the market early on in the trend f
or truly luxurious quality women’s clothes at sensible prices. Clothes that are modern, stylish and cleverly cut to flatter for women of all ages and different figures. Cut from exclusively designed, high quality fabrics and knitted from luxurious yarns that will last, in carefully chosen colours that stand the test of time and are easy to co-ordinate.
Winser’s mission
The mission is to help women find confidence through clever, versatile, high quality clothes, delivered through powerful imagery which illustrates how to achieve real style with modern quality staples. Kim set about building a digital business model with pop-up shops in strategic locations. The collection is intelligently designed and developed so a woman can transform her look and take her confidence to a new level.
Travel has always been a large part of Kim’s life and her packing tips are valued by her customers: her ability to pack light while creating a multitude of outfit options from just a few pieces has been core to the development of the Winser clothing collection. So too has the ‘touch of stretch’ in virtually every style, which ensures you look as good at the end of the day, even after a long-haul flight, as you do at breakfast.
Such is the success of the Winser brand that is has become a favourite with Annie Lennox, Emma Watson and the Duchess of Sussex.
Kim also devotes time to advising and supporting aspiring young business women to help them achieve their goals. She supports various charities including working with HRH The Prince of Wales with The Prince’s Trust. Kim was asked to sit on The Good Work Commission for the government alongside selected other FT100 businessmen. She works with students at Central Saint Martin’s and Heriot-Watt University and is a regular contributor to Forbes. In 2002, Kim was awarded a Doctorate by Heriot-Watt University her work in the British textile industry and an Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Her Majesty The Queen for her services to the British fashion and retail industry in 2006.
Despite Kim’s inspiring business success, her mother’s words have kept her grounded and utterly down-to-earth. “My mother advised me to always ‘just be myself’,” she explains. “Those few words have stayed with me and have kept me on a solid path throughout my career – and my own advice to myself has been “to give more than I take in life”. I hope we will always deliver this to our customers through Winser London too”.
Winser London will be exhibiting their s/s19 collection at SHOWCASE on Tuesday 5th March, with their signature “miracle” dresses and a range of accessories to try. Register for SHOWCASE here.
