Designer Karen Millen OBE has revealed some of the highs and lows of her design career – and her marriage to her ex-husband.
Speaking to the How to be 60 podcast, the famous fashion icon told how she almost completely avoided the industry, until teachers dissuaded her from pursuing painting and decorating.
And incredibly – despite her success – she also admitted that she had sometimes felt a lack of confidence during her successful career.
This included a turnover of £50 million in 2000, by 2004 there were 400 stores in 65 countries and in 2008 Millen was awarded an OBE for his services to fashion. At one time, she even had a store in Mongolia.
It’s been quite a journey for the third of four children, who grew up in a council house in Maidstone, with his mother a secretary and his father a carpet fitter.
She said she still sometimes feels insecure because: “I don’t think we’re good at doing everything.
“You have to build a good team around you. It takes a big team to succeed. And we were lucky to have put together a good team.
“And we worked very well together. And I think you know that’s part of our success, it’s not just me… I was just part of this great team.
She says she worked well in the beginning with her ex-husband Kevin Stanford “most of the time, and certainly before the kids came along, we each had our roles.”
Designer Karen Millen OBE attends the Ballet Icons 2024 Gala at the London Coliseum in 2024
According to the designer (photo), after a few difficult years, including a divorce and bankruptcy, she finally feels happy again.
After going into administration in 2019, the online arm of Karen’s business was bought for £18.2 million in August 2019 by Manchester-based company Boohoo.
Karen continued: “We were both very motivated. And both of us at the same time…even though he didn’t come from that kind of creative background per se, or wasn’t in a creative industry at all, he loved it and was passionate about it in the same way as me.
“So, you know, we were both chasing the same goal, it worked. In fact, it was just a compulsion later in life, and I think after having children as well.
“It gets difficult because, you know, it’s exhausting trying to do everything, and you’re building a big company, and I think we were very young. When we met, we were 19 years old. He was 20.
Before the divorce, the couple had sold 48 percent of the business. After the split, they sold everything, with Karen saying the collections were starting to suffer as her mind was elsewhere and it was “time to let go”.
She sold her share at around the age of 42, for a total of £42 million.
When asked how she felt being there at that age, she described it as “pretty lonely”, partly because she didn’t have a job to go to.
She explained: “I should have been delighted. You know, we just got millions of pounds for it, but at the same time, “I was like, what’s my goal? Now? You know, what am I going to do?”
“And then yes, of course, our family unit no longer existed, so you know, I had a hard time accepting the loss of our family unit and our business.
“So things changed overnight. And because of the previous two years, the separation has deepened. I was definitely a bit of an emotional wreck.
“And so it took me several years to really work on myself in the sense of who I am, you know, what is my purpose? I had lost all confidence in myself. And I think that, you know, it didn’t help that Kevin had beaten me up a little bit.
“And I lacked income. I didn’t know who I was. I’m really struggling.
Karen was one of 16 investitures at Buckingham Palace in June 2008. For her services to the fashion industry she was awarded an OBE.
Karen Millen (pictured) says she feels well for the first time in years after an extremely trying period
She admits that even if she had enough money to do expensive things, she has to pay for others who can’t afford them or can’t take time off.
“And then,” Karen adds, “I didn’t have my partner who we built this business with to share it with, which seemed really strange to me.
“You know, we worked so hard to achieve what we achieved. But we did not reap the rewards together. So it was fun. It was a lot of fun, but it was also a difficult time for me.
Of her friendship with Kevin, she said: “Over the years it’s been an on-and-off friendship, which is often the case, but we’re fine. And we are friends now.
After three or four years, things took a turn for the worse when, on professional advice, she lost the family home and other properties, and she says she went to live with Kevin for a while.
Her older children had moved away, but the loss of everything financially was difficult for the family.
Karen said that while she’s “good at overcoming” situations like this, she’s good at it, but even for her it was hard sometimes not to feel.
Then, in 2009, coming out of bankruptcy, she learned that Boohoo had bought the line, which she said brought tears to her eyes, and it “felt like the end of a legacy” that a company specializing in fast fashion had bought his brand.
However, she eventually decided to meet them and created a 30-piece fashion collection, which transformed her, as she explains.
“It’s really nice to create something that people enjoy wearing,” Karen said.
“I like to make other people happy… it definitely gave me the opportunity to not only have an image, but also to get my confidence back and to go back out there and watch everything that’s going on and create new ones and different choices.
“So yeah, I think it’s going to be a good year. Last year was good for me. And I think this year will be good. So I feel very positive. And I feel good for the first time in years.