From rose print mugs to polka dot tablecloths, her brand has gained her a legion of fans across the globe.
But Cath Kidston has revealed she was criticised when she first started out for ‘celebrating women doing chores’ after designing ironing board covers.
The 59-year-old, known for her nostalgic colourful prints, said that when she was trying to establish herself she ‘got a lot of stick’ for designing an ironing board cover which she said was her ‘best product’.
Cath Kidston says she was criticised for promoting women doing chores when she came up with her ironing board design
Speaking at the Oxford Union, the designer, whose brand is now worth an estimated £50million, said: ‘I got a lot of stick with people saying “are you celebrating women ironing?”. Or men. But they always said women. Are you celebrating ironing? And I said well, actually, if I do my ironing I want it to be more pleasurable.
‘The reason I designed the ironing board cover was I had a very small flat, and I had a grey ironing board on the back of the door. And I thought actually, why isn’t it covered in decoration? So that was my best product.’
Despite no longer being involved in the day-to-day business of Cath Kidston, the businesswoman, who set up her first shop in Holland Park in 1993, still retains an 11 per cent stake.
The shabby-chic homewares business, which is popular in Asia with stores in Hong Kong, China, Japan, Thailand and Taiwan, now has more than 50 stores in Britain.
The brand is so popular that around 28 per cent of the female population in Britain own something from Cath Kidston, chief executive of Cath Kidston, Kenny Wilson, revealed last month.
Miss Kidston, who is first cousins with Samantha Cameron, admitted she was forced to move production to Asia due to the instability of print mills in Britain.
She said: ‘The manufacturing was very difficult, because I tried to get everything made in the UK.
‘I had so many print mills go broke on me. And if that’s your ingredient and the factory closes down, it’s really hard moving screens.
‘I opened the business in 1993, and I think it was eight years later I had to move the lot to Asia because I couldn’t get the stability.
‘I could still get certain things made at home, but all those print mills, it was really a dying business, it was really hard to get that done.’
Miss Kidston revealed that she made a big design for Ikea, but refused to let them put her name to it.
Miss Kidston also revealed that she made a big design for Ikea, but refused to let them put her name to it
She said: ‘They were amazing to work with, and they paid me so much money. But I wouldn’t let them use my name. So everyone thought they were ripping me off.’
In 2013, the designer, who married long-term partner Hugh Padgham in 2012 and has one step-daughter, said she has never wanted to be ‘that housewife’ who gets ‘supper ready in the evening’.
She told The Daily Telegraph: ‘My mother didn’t work.
‘My father even paid the housekeeping bills, so she was entirely dependent. Then she was widowed when she was quite young, and I think it was seeing her so vulnerable that gave me the motivation to do this.
‘It is so nice to have one’s own life and support oneself. Of course it’s wonderful to share things, but I don’t aspire to being that housewife getting supper ready in the evening.’
Miss Kidston, who suffered from breast cancer in her 30s, was inspired by her aunt, Belinda Bellville, a founder of the fashion house Bellville Sassoon, who suggested she go into interiors.
She moved to London from Hampshire aged 18, initially working as a shop assistant before landing a job with designer Nicky Haslam and then setting up an interiors business with a friend.
In 1993, she invested £15,000 in savings to open her first store in Holland Park, West London, following a ‘career crisis’. The shop sold hand-embroidered tea towels and brightly renovated furniture.