When Little Lies began it was a teeny tiny dream with an even teenier budget based in the spare room of our home in Fife. The aesthetic was very much as it is now – a bohemian feel with rock ‘n roll inspo at its core. I scoured the web, visited trade shows and trudged through wholesale markets to source products I really fell in love with and knew I could present in my own way. Because I was the one person sourcing, styling, shooting and selling these pieces, they pulled together cohesively despite being an inevitably eclectic mix of stuff.

As a business, we’ve had to adapt and evolve in countless ways, but the most significant shift has been moving from ‘boutique’ to ‘brand’. This change emerged naturally during a period of rapid growth. I had become increasingly frustrated with the limitations of the boutique model, particularly because so many of the challenges we faced were outwith our control.

One of the biggest issues was product availability. Sometimes we’d discover a best-seller but couldn’t restock it, or we’d find a gem only to realise it had already been mass-produced and heavily discounted elsewhere - often below our own cost price. It forced us into a reactive mode that didn’t align with who we were or how we wanted to operate.

Sizing was another major pain point. At the time, size inclusivity in the wholesale market was virtually non-existent. Despite pushing suppliers to demand more from their manufacturers, options barely covered mid-sizes, let alone plus sizes. On top of that, fit varied wildly between brands, making it difficult for customers - even loyal ones - to know what size would actually work.

Quality was equally inconsistent. Relying on third-party products meant trusting someone else’s manufacturing standards, and unfortunately, we’d often only learn about poor quality after customers experienced it firsthand.

All of this led to ongoing frustration - for us and for our customers. Finding pieces that matched our aesthetic was already tough, and when you layered in the above issues, sourcing became almost impossible. There was even a point where we could only get such limited quantities of strong products that items sold out within minutes of launching. While that was exciting, it quickly became more frustrating than fulfilling for our community.

So, the time came. We were retailing enough volume that meant we could meet the minimum order quantities at some smaller factories who are used to working with indie brands. We had historical data proving what our best sellers and most in demand styles were, which is gold dust to any business going into manufacturing. The boutique model allowed us the freedom to explore so many styles – buying in small quantities to limit the financial risk while we figured out not only which had the strongest sell through to the customer base we’d built, but to decipher what really felt like us. I like to think of the Dundee shop era as our teenage years, when we experimented with different silhouettes and aesthetics, trying on different personalities until we circled right back to our rock ‘n roll roots!

The design process from when we first stepped into it to now has evolved significantly, as I’ve found my own way of working and really homed in on the things that are important to me when creating a garment. The more styles we take through the development process and the more feedback we get from customers, the more we learn about not only what we want to create but what you guys want to wear. My confidence in what I envisioned for Little Lies may have taken a wobble through the transition, but it has slowly come back and we’re now at what feels like yet another new beginning.

It has taken us a few years to find our feet and I’m not going to lie; this change has been a much bigger mountain to climb than I had anticipated and has challenged me beyond what I thought I could take. It has been the steepest learning curve to date, but the last three years now have me in a role I could only have dreamed of back in the day. Getting to design our product from scratch, working with print designers, garment techs and experienced factories to create the things I’ve always wanted to have in my wardrobe is a dream come true!

As I reflect on the last decade and look forward to what’s next, there’s not a thing I’d change about our journey. Having not only an evolution to look back on but a complete business model change has proven that the brand has longevity, that you guys will keep coming back and keep shopping with us. We’ve looked down every avenue, testing what does and doesn’t work and come full circle to the original brand vision. Right now, I’ve never felt surer of exactly who we are and what Little Lies is here to create. The incoming collections are our strongest to date and I’m incredibly excited to share them with you! There’s even a 10th Anniversary surprise launching soon that epitomises all that Little Lies is about. Stay tuned, cause there’s always more to come…

Big Love,
Jade