India Harvey-Beckinsale

Wear it like you mean it!

Suits by @nathanpalmerbespoke | Shoes by @DiamondSole

From the age of 10, I had this absolute passion for fashion, yet no idea where it had come from. I spent hours drawing designs, perfectly happy in my little space, dreaming that one day I would see my designs on a runway. I never let go of that dream, and I never stopped drawing.

Life took over. I moved to London after I left school and became a nanny, but I still didn’t stop drawing. I couldn’t, and once an idea was in my head, well, I just had to get it on to paper. I remember standing in a line in a bank, and a design popped into my head. I grabbed a paying-in slip, borrowed a pen, and had to draw it on the back of that slip. That’s when I knew it ran through my veins.

Many years later, having been married, had my two amazing sons, got through a divorce, and with my sons having grown and moved out, I knew that this was it; this was my chapter, my turn. I found a seamstress and had my first design made. I couldn’t believe I was finally seeing my design in 3D, holding it in my hands, putting it on, and being asked about it when I wore it out. It was incredible.

Then an opportunity landed in my lap which meant being able to show a collection. Damn, was this really happening? I had waited 46 years for this moment, and it was really happening.

What I failed to tell you all was that I had been adopted at 10 days old, found my biological mother, and after a couple of years, she told me that my biological grandfather had been the best tailor in Newmarket. You see, that’s where I had got it from. Sadly, I didn’t get to meet him, but boy, we would have whipped up a storm for sure. She gave me his actual scissors, so I know he’s right with me, championing me on, and saying, “My dear girl, YOU GOT THIS.”

I knew this was my purpose; I was here to do this.

Note: Remember to find your passion, what puts fire in your belly, what lights you up when you talk about it, then go do it. Everything will fall into place, and you will find your “happy.”

Welcome to my beautiful world.