Bringing Ghost back to life! How the 90s high street stalwart has become a favourite of Kate Middleton and Holly Willoughby – 12 years after it was saved by Dragons’ Den star Touker Suleyman
- Duchess of Cambridge, 38, wore a £149 dress by Ghost to clap for NHS staff
- Royal endorsement is the latest show of the brand’s growing popularity
- Ghost was a 90s stalwart but came close to ruin after the 2008 financial crisis
- It was saved by Dragons’ Den’s Touker Suleyman and is now a celebrity favourite
From Holly Willoughby to Carrie Symonds, fashion label Ghost has the backing of some of the most high profile women in British public life.
And while it has become a regular fixture on celebrity Instagram feeds over the last two years, last night Ghost was catapulted into the global spotlight after it was chosen by the Duchess of Cambridge for her televised clap for carers appearance.
Within hours of the segment being aired on BBC1 – and photos of the moment shared around the world – the £129 Anouk dress had sold out and royal fan accounts were filled with suggestions on where you might pick up the style second-hand.
Such is the power of having your product seen on one of the world’s most photographed women.
British fashion label Ghost was catapulted into the global spotlight last night after it was chosen by the Duchess of Cambridge as she clapped for NHS workers alongside her husband Prince William and their three children, pictured. The dress sold out within hours
The brand made national headlines in July last year after it was chosen by Carrie Symonds for her high profile outing to watch boyfriend Boris Johnson give his first speech at Downing Street, right. Pictured left, Holly Willoughby in a Ghost dress in early March
For Ghost, Kate’s royal endorsement is the surest sign yet that the label is enjoying a full-fledged fashion revival – 12 years after it almost collapsed during the 2008 financial crisis.
The label was founded in 1984 by Tanya Sarne, who at the time was an unemployed single mother with no experience in fashion. The brand took its name from the idea that Sarne would rely on trained designers to ‘ghost write’ the label while she retained overall creative control.
Thanks to its signature offering of floating, clinging, ultra-feminine dresses that had a vintage feel and were crafted in a durable, easy-to-care for viscose, Ghost built up a devoted customer base – first in Britain and then around the world.
Among the high profile fans was Welsh-born fashion industry heavyweight Grace Coddington, creative director of large at American Vogue, who described Ghost as ‘clothes every woman likes to wear’.
Ghost has also been in regular rotation in arguably the most sought-after non-royal wardrobe in Britain: that of This Morning star Holly Willoughby, who has worn five different Ghost dresses since the start of this month alone. Pictured, Holly in one of her lockdown Ghost looks
However the brand struggled financially, reporting a loss of £72,000 in 2004, according to an article in the Independent, and making just £499 the following year.
Sarne sought out investment and in 2005 sold a controlling interest in the company to retail entrepreneur Kevin Sanford, who co-founded Karen Millen, and Icelandic investment group Arev for £5million. The following year Sarne departed the label.
The chain found its savior in Touker Suleyman, pictured, Dragons’ Den star and owner of shirtmakers Hawes & Curtis
Just two years later Ghost was forced into administration after Icelandic private investment fund KCAJ refused to put any more money into the company following the collapse of the Icelandic banking market.
The chain found its savior in Touker Suleyman, the future Dragons’ Den star and owner of shirtmakers Hawes & Curtis.
With creative director Sameera Azeem at the helm, Ghost’s sales have continued to grow. Website were up 95 per cent in 2017 from 2014.
‘Ghost has struggled over the years and in the last few years we have been slowly changing the direction,’ Azeem said in a recent interview with Forbes.
‘I wanted to do this slowly and organically as we had a very loyal customer base and didn’t want to alienate that customer base by just suddenly changing the brand. Doing it this way they grew with the brand and stayed loyal to us.’
The brand has also attained new customers with its floaty dresses and separates that perfectly capture the trend for retro tea dresses.
It also boasts a growing wholesale business and is now stocked in Selfridges, Zalando, John Lewis, Anthropologie and ASOS.
Carrie Symonds also wore a Ghost dress when she introduced Dilyn the dog in 2019