Cath Kidston

Kidston opened her first shop in London's Holland Park in 1993,^[2] selling hand-embroidered tea-towels.^[8]

By the end of 2013, she had 136 outlets, including a flagship store on Piccadilly next to Fortnum & Mason and four stores in China.^[9] Appearing on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs programme, Kidston described her shops as provoking a 'Marmite reaction': "People either love it and want a little bit of it very much, or want to stab us."^[4]

In 2010, she sold a majority stake of the company to private equity investors TA Associates,^[10] retaining a minority stake and remaining the company's Creative Director.^[10] The sale was reported to be worth £100 million.^[3]

Prince George wore one of her outfits, which quickly sold out.^[11]

In 2021, Kidston founded the brand C.Atherley, a British beauty company that sells creams, bath oils and diffusers.^[3]

Kidston has worked with Millets to design tents (2005–06),^[2] Nokia/ Carphone Warehouse mobile phones (2006),^[2] and Roberts radios (2005 onwards).^[2] In 2008, she collaborated with Tesco to produce shopping bags made from plastic bottles,^[2] which were sold to raise almost £500,000 for Marie Curie Cancer Care^[2] and saved about six million plastic bottles from landfill.^[2]

In 1996, Kidston was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 36.^[3]

Kidston is married to record producer Hugh Padgham and have one stepdaughter together.^[3][12] Kidston has two pets, a Sealyham terrier named Billie and a Lakeland terrier named Stanley, who feature in her designs.^[13][14] She owns homes in West London and Gloucestershire.^[3]