High Hopes for fashion label founded by ex-M&S executive Lord Rose

Brand: Hope Fashion’s ranges are at the over-50s

A fashion brand backed by former Marks & Spencer chairman Lord Rose aims to raise new funds to ‘take the business to the next stage’.

Hope Fashion founder Nayna McIntosh wants £1million from seed investors to double the range and ramp up marketing.

She said her ‘absolute dream’ is to open temporary pop-up shops in major cities including Glasgow and Manchester. Hope Fashion clothes are made at family-owned factories in Italy. The company targets over-50s women on its website and on social media.

After quitting her job as an M&S executive nine years ago, McIntosh considered setting up her own brand.

‘It sounds completely ludicrous at the time because the world needs another womenswear label like a hole in the head,’ she said.

‘But then I stopped to think. I was 52 and going through the menopause. It had an effect on my body shape. It can be a deeply uncomfortable time.

‘I realized that if I was feeling like that, so must an awful lot of other women. I’ve always felt the industry does not want to acknowledge 50-plus women.’

The label’s sizes range from ‘slim’ to ‘super curvy’. McIntosh added: ‘It’s about making the cut of the clothes appropriate without making them old fashioned.’