On the sofa with Tara
Introducing Tara, our stupendously talented Head of Mini Boden, Johnnie b and Baby Boden.
Q: Tell us a little bit about what you do:
I work with the design team to put concept, stories, colour palette together and design the range each season.
Q: Where has your career led you before Boden?
I’m actually a returner to Boden. I worked at a number of places before Boden in the States… J Crew, Tommy Hilfiger, Pepe. I then came back to London and worked for Racing Green before Boden from 2000 to 2006 where I was Menswear and Womenswear Designer. I then went freelance, worked for Whistles, Cath Kidston and Joules before coming back last year, almost a year ago to do Mini Boden. Boden is home for me, the people are amazing here which is a fairly consistent comment. The energy, the enthusiasm, the spirit, the intelligence, it’s pretty unique – and that it’s not fashiony. I like that.
Q: What’s the best bit about your job?
Colour. Colour mixing, combining pattern, print colour. Putting a palette together is probably the most exciting part of the season, it really gives me butterflies. The clothes change and they get updated but really, the colours are what make the difference.
Q: What do you find most challenging?
The enormous size of the range actually. I left in 2006 when it was smaller and now the Mini Boden ranges for spring summer ’13 holds about 1400 options, which is a hell of a lot of options to keep inside your head! Trying to remember what each of those colour ways are and what each of those patterns look like.
Q: Will we see the ranges refreshed more often?
There’s a lot of newness happening, again more for spring summer ’13. Autumn ’12 we’ve started to segment slightly differently so Mini is more orientated at the 5-6 core age with Johnnie b core at 11-12 so more tween not teen and starting from 8 upwards not 10 upwards. We want to be really clear to our customers that it is for little girls who are growing up, who are less likely to be dressed by their mothers and much more likely to be making the decisions themselves. So Mini Boden is more nursery, pre-school and starting school. Plus we’re putting more ranges online mostly for spring summer ’13, so there’ll be more than just what you see in the catalogue.
Q: What did you want to be when you were little?
I always wanted to be a designer, it’s slightly bonkers! There may have been a stage I wanted to be a nurse or something like that but fairly young I did want to design clothes which feels really precocious to say now but I just loved clothes. I had an aunt who was in the fashion business and she was my soul mate and I don’t know, it just excited me from an early age. I was curious about how much clothes cost to buy wholesale and how much you made when you sold them on. Just everything about it. Plus the dressing up box side of things as I got older!
Q: Where do you draw your inspiration?
From the children that I see. I’ve got a six year old daughter and twins of two years old so I spend a lot of time in parks, playgrounds, coffee shops and restaurants hoping the children behave. I get inspired by what the children around us are wearing. Where I live in Queen’s Park it’s quite hip – a little bit ‘fashionable’ and the children tend to dress in a way that maybe pushes the boundaries a bit more. But equally I like going out to Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire and seeing what the children are wearing there too. We also get inspired by a bit of vintage and perhaps a bit of what’s in designer shops too but my biggest inspiration is definitely drawn from what I see around me.
Q: How about overseas? Do we cater specifically for our international customers?
We’re British through and through and that’s our USP but we have a big American client on Mini and our American customers have a slightly different approach to how they dress, tending to be bolder with their patterns and bolder with their colour. I grew up in America and spent half of my childhood there so I’m fairly clear on how they like to look but equally when we go and do an inspirational print trip to LA we combine a bit of customer watching in a playground in say Malibu. You find a different flavour and a different type of dressing there and also quite a summery feel which you can see in February, whereas here in July we’re still not quite there.
Q: What can we expect from Mini this autumn?
You can expect a more coordinated range. Without getting matchy matchy I hope we’re a little bit easier to outfit. If you’re a mum like me you kind of want five outfits a season and as imaginative you are with your own clothes with your children it’s about speed. It’s about being confident they’re going to look good – but it’s about speed of dressing and knowing that if they pull something out of the wardrobe it’s pretty much going to work with something else. It will look easier to outfit and a little bit more nostalgic. We’ve taken the English country garden trend and our floral prints are a little bit ditsier and smaller scale, a touch daintier . But we are also bold and colour blocked and Nordic inspired too. So it’s not all softer and prettier. It’s perhaps softer and prettier on baby and in some aspects of girls but on boys it’s pretty colourful with a bit more heritage, jumbo cord in honey colours and chesnutty browns. Lots of tartan… a sort of return to the heritage that Boden had. Quite classic and enduring but with a slightly softer edge.
Q: Describe yourself in three words:
For my age I’m a bit giggly… three words gosh, committed and positive, most of the time!
Q: Who do you admire?
Paul Smith. I think he is very true to what he does. He’s always unexpected but it’s always consistently Paul Smith. He’s not trying to be anybody else.
Q: What book is on your bedside table?
Luella Bartley, Luella’s Guide to English Style.
Q: Last played track on your iPod?
My children tend to overtake the house with nonsense and Moshi Monster music. It is probably (she racks her brain) Kings of Leon, as a go to and Fleet Foxes. And I love hip-hop like Kanye West!
Q: Have you any annoying/bad habits?
I’m quite bossy and I finish people’s sentences for them.
Q: What’s your proudest work achievement?
I sort of just feel proud every time I see someone wearing something I’ve designed. Especially as it does tend to hit you in the face, in London particularly. It’s a consistent joy.
Q: Do you keep things you have designed?
You know what I slightly get bored of anything I’ve worked on. I’m naturally impatient and always want to move onto the next project. I do keep the catalogue but not the real thing. I do however constantly collect inspiration, tears, buttons fabric etc. You never know when it might come in handy.
Q: Which Boden item is your most coveted?
This season I loved the Broderie Peter Pan Top. I also have a silk dress in a very strong bloom from last year which I love – I feel quite dressed up and garden party in it.
Q: What’s top of your wish list from the autumn range?
The Bistro Crops and potentially the Camel Crombi. Those are the two things that stick in my head but also a few of the dresses and a woven top with little butterflies on it. It all feels very new and fresh for autumn.
24 Responses to “On the sofa with Tara”
Lovely Blog Tara!
nice blog, thanks!
very concerned about where mini is going don’t want to dress my 9 year old in Johnnnie B – want her to dress like the young girl she is and not a teenager.
So happy to see this feature on the new site I always enjoyed reading these blogs on BC. I am very intrigued to see the changes this season roll on A/W!
Just wanted to say thank you Tara for the fabulous Mini Boden range! My daughter is 3 yrs old and I lov buying her the gorgeous clothes and alwys look forward to each season! I have a 6 month old son too and can’t wait to be able to dress him in the gorgeous boy’s clothes aswell!
Keep the fabulous designs coming!
Lovely Blog, looking forward to the Johnnie B collection!
This is great. I have been a little apprehensive about the changes. There are certain garments we rely on in our household. Tartan baggies, for example as my son will not wear jeans or anything rigid. I can’t bear to see him in trackies 24/7 so I always stock up!
It’s pleasing to hear that Boden isn’t a “fashiony” environment to work in. I certainly don’t get that impression from my shopping experience and it’s the pride in of genuinely great clothes and the warmth of your staff that draws me back.
Look forward to seeing the new collection – elbow patches and chunky cords are a big “yes” from our household!
Great to have a behind the scenes view.
I too am very concerned about the change to mini boden. I liked the fact that I could always get great age appropriate clothes from Boden for my daughter. Shame it now seems to be following the crowd.
Also concerned about the changes. I thought the whole point of Johnnie B was to move into teenagers. Aiming it at early tweens defies all logic and like others I don’t believe in this tween rubbish let them be young as long as they can teenage anx comes soon enough. I have two teenage boys and two younger boys and they sure as eggs aren’t going to be wanting to wear the same thing. So looks like the teenage stuff will be too young for my teens and the mini stuff too old for my youngsters, shame and am hoping it doesn’t work out that way as I have been buying Boden stuff for a long time, I like them to be different not sludge coloured.
Change is good but as previous post points out following the trend of the less classy brands isn’t change, feel that is where the Next brand went wrong.
Okay struggling to understand your logic. You bring in the Johnnie B brand to plug the gap between Mini and adult and now you are going to aim it at tweens? If parents want their children to be old before they are wise then I am sure they would have bought JB stuff for them anyway in the smaller sizes or shopped at Next!
I want Mini for my 7 and 9 year old Mini boys and proper teenage stuff for my 14 and 15 year olds thank you. They sure as eggs won’t want to be all wearing the same stuff. Looks like it is a good job I am moving to France were the selection will be greater if Boden are going the way of every other UK manufacturer.
Very interesting blog. Surely up dating the ranges is ideal for us busy mums. I am very excited for the children’s ranges to be launched. Good luck Boden.
Aiming JBoden at tweens defies all logic. It was brought in to fill the gap between Mini and adults. Agree with previous posts, not very original, smacks of going the same way as other brands like Next and not the right move for a brand aimed at the middle classes. Thankfully moving to France soon so will have loads of choice for my boys to fill the gap.
I live in the United States and my husband and I love the Mini Boden line for our 6 year old son. I never thought my husband would even comment about our son’s clothing but he is always remarking how he loves the designs. I wanted to mention that my son loves trucks (what young boys does not?)…especially semi trucks. We would love to see a Mini Boden design with a truck on it. If you need any inspiring designs…he is always drawing them, lol.
I am also slightly concerned about this JohnnieB tween theme. My boy is 6, but wearing 7-8 +9-10. i dont not want tween themed clothes for him, i want proper little boy clothes, like cord sailing trousers, t shirts with spiders on them, aeroplanes etc. If i wanted him to look “hip & trend” (what ever the hell that means for a 6 year old) and like everyone else i would buy from Next.
children need to be dressed as children. i hate this dressing up to look like a mini adult thing. its not nice. im concerned that im now not going to be able to buy the age 7-8 or 9-10 with this new Johnnie B range starting at 8. will this mean the end to bigger sizing in the Mini range?
for those of us with tall girls, where does this fill the gap. i have a big 4 year old, wearing 5-6 Boden. will i soon find she is in the tween age inappropriate section?
A very interesting blog, but I echo the concerns of Rachel. Having seen the Johnnie b sneek peek on fb, I had a feeling that Boden was taking the range in another direction. Actually, over the last 2/3 seasons it’s been noticeable that the models are looking younger & younger & some of the styles are reminiscent of mini b classics.Sadly for both of us my daughter (13) won’t want to wear Jb if it loses its edgy teen identity. I have loved the range over the last 2 years & before that mini-b & hoped that my love affair with your gorgeous ranges would long continue. However, it does sound like you are dumping your teen clientele & leaving us mothers of teenage daughters with the ever increasing dilemma of trying to find them decent, modest, well made clothes that they actually love to wear!! Cheers!
DULL DULL DULL. Cannot stress enough how deflated I feel at the changes being made. I have three children, boys aged 10 and 8 and a daughter aged 6 and for the first time I am going to have to look elsewhere to clothe them. Where are the beautiful pretty dresses and colourful tops, dont get me started on the coats, how many young girlie girls would want to wear a single one of them? Like my many Bodenite friends who look forward to maxing their cards out on a new seasons brochure, I am struggling to find much at at all, maybe only even a couple of things for myself too, a total distater. Switch back to how it was before we all jump ship. Is there not a saying ‘if it aint broke dont fix it’ very apt.
Totally agree with the above comments. As a parent of teenage children I know that I can look at Johnnie B to find clothes to meet their needs. By changing the audience to a lower age you will automatically loose a lot of customers. As your children reach this age you will experience the difficulties in buying clothes for them . Adult clothes are not a good fit and the designs are not always suitable for their lifestyle. Please consider these views before turning Johnnie B into a younger childrens range.
Disapointed in the muted colours and patterns in the girls clothes this season. I normally love Boden and buy for my children each season mainly for comfy elastcated waistbands that don’t fall down, fit, the lovely bright colours and cute animal appliques. Where are the lovely big bright animal applique t-shirts in the girls? This is the first season I am struggling to find anything that grabs me enough to spend the extra money. I agree trucks/ vehicles or something would be nice for younger boys. My 4 year old has grown out of the baby range but I still like to dress him in those sort of designs – not all little boys want to roar at someone wherever they go. I too hope the younger style clothes carry on into big sizes. My daughter is big for her age and I really don’t want to dress her like a ‘tween’ or a teen in only a couple of years (she is 5).
Very interesting blog. My son was very sad when he outgrew Mini last year as he had worn it for years, and he was always being complimented on his “unusual, but fun style”. We wish the Johnnie B range was larger however, with more quirky T’s and pull-ons. The thought of buying him men’s clothes is a little daunting at this time, but we’ll be there soon at the rate he’s growing!
I echo all the comments here. JohnnieB range for AW12 hugely disappointing. It was such a great move in the first place to put an edgy teen slant on the Boden values, and was such a great bridge between mini and the inevitable onslaught of TopShop. It was also a great place for us Petites to buy truly skinny jeans, not the mumsy efforts that you seem to purvey for ‘grown ups’.
Wouldn’t be so bad if the new ‘tween’ range was actually still a bit edgy, but it looks like 70′s handmedowns – not childlike, or sensibly chaste, just a bit frumpy – and is frankly a bit insulting to today’s 12-16 year olds.
Not happy.
Extremely disappointed with Mini Boden A/W 2012….usually want to buy the whole lot! But this time round..can only find a few bits I like. Dreadful colours…some questionable designs and looking like much of the dull UK highstreet rubbish on offer. I just looked at the boys pj range tonight…all horrid…usually love all, and have to painstakingly choose. Oh Boden…change back to what you know and what you are good at..and what we love. Also..yes, sad to see you pushing little kids into more grown up clothes..that’s v American. Keep your kids ranges appropriate for their age. I’m not liking the change and won’t be spending much money with you :0(
Well looks like I will have to go elsewhere… I have a 2nd grader who wears a 10 and size 10 in other brands is all skulls and sports and skating and tween teen themes he does not like. The only reason I pay boden prices is for the age appropriate designs in all sizes. There are some young styles I understand not making in size 10-14, but there are a lot more that should stay. Very devastated to see these changes. I always wondered what I would do when he grew out of boden never thought boden would force him out on their own. That johnnie B is slim fitting too, I am not a fan of that for my son or my daughter. A very sad announcement indeed.
This is the first time I have seen this blog from May 2012. It voices many concerns about the way Mini Boden is going, which has now come to fruition in December 2012 with the launch of the Spring range. Sad to see how Mini Boden is changing – please dont be another Next! We want the same beautiful, quality, children dressing like children, ranges that we love. A blanket ban on sizes in the Mini range over 10 years is ridiculous – children are all shapes, sizes and heights. I have just tried to order a few items for my eldest daughter from the Mini range in age 11 to 12 and they are totally sold out – there is a demand for this. I feel sad that, by the time this is sorted out, people will have found their own new Mini Boden alternative!