Gorgeous Coco Ribbon's success is undeniable. marmaLADYa.com speaks to the Coco Ribbon founders, Alison Chow and Sophie Oliver, and finds out what makes their world of business so magical

Where did it all start for Coco Ribbon ?
We spotted a real gap in the market for fashion that wasn’t high street and wasn’t Gucci or Burberry, something that had individuality but wasn't super-expensive. I’m from Sydney originally and there weren’t any Australian designers in the UK at all. Sophie and I wanted to put together a whole emporium just for women, like a mini-department store. A place that represented a bestfriend who you just love everything about – their house, their clothes… a girl who’s got it all going on. At Coco Ribbon you can come in and rummage through the drawers and take a piece of her enchanted life with you. It’s a whole lifestyle thing. One of the original ideas was that you should be able to buy anything you see in the shop. So the chandeliers and dressing tables are for sale too. It means the shop is always fresh. We also felt there was a gap in the market for good service. In Australia the service is so friendly and non-intimidating. So even though Coco Ribbon is a luxury brand (we like to call it ‘quirky’ or ‘obtainable’ luxury) the girls aren’t snooty at all. It was really important that we differentiated ourselves in that way.

What did you do before you set up Coco Ribbon?
I did a business degree in Australia and Sophie did arts and language. We met eight years ago when we were working in PR for Halpern Associates on the Burberry account. We have a good working relationship, probably because we're both extreme. I’m more big picture and Sophie is fantastic with detail and managing people. But we come up with all the ideas together. We like to get everyone in the company involved in ideas as well.

How did you get the business up and running?
We put together a really thorough business plan with the help of the Portobello Business Centre. We then won a prize for the business plan – we got £500 and a bottle of champagne! That gave us the confidence to really go for it. So I remortgaged my house and Sophie had some money saved – really not very much at all. But we were profitable straightaway. We didn’t have nearly enough stock, we were selling out every week and just had to keep buying and buying. We opened the shop in August 2002 and we generated three times our budget in the first year. I think the key was really good service, the whole concept of a beautiful boudoir and indulging females (a combination that hadn’t been seen before), the atmosphere and the music – we wanted to do a whole Breakfast at Tiffany’s retail experience.

The Coco Ribbon brand is very strong. Was this the case from the beginning?
Yes, we did decide we wanted to create a brand and not a shop. I think creating a brand means it has its own unique personality. If Coco Ribbon were a woman she’d be witty, fun, indulgent, beautiful and cheeky – there’s always an element of surprise in what she'd do. Once the essence of the brand is created it evolves, like a person, it becomes more and more distilled. And we made Cool Brands last year! Now we’re doing more and more of our own branded products. In the beginning we imported from outside, but everything that is Coco Ribbon outsells everything else five to one! We’re launching our own fashion label in 2008 and we’re doing our own cosmetics line. We’ve always done a bit of our own cashmere, and we’re planning lingerie, gifts and accessories. Ultimately we’d like to be like Agent Provocateur which started with other people’s products but now is almost 90% their own.

Last year you opened up a second store in Chelsea. How did that go?

That didn’t go so well! It was too premature. We’d been going two and half years with the Notting Hill store which had experienced phenomenal success. But I think we got a bit over-ambitious. The sales were good, not what we projected but still good. It was definitely a lot more grown up, the fashion was more expensive brands. We could have kept it going but to manage it all was too much. It was a shame but a good learning experience, and I think it did help raise the brand profile massively. A very expensive PR exercise!

What’s it been like taking Coco Ribbon online?
Amazing! We’ve got a database of 50,000 people – we ran some viral marketing competitions which really helped. And we launched Panty Postman, which delivers panties in the post – it’s been phenomenal. Every day we get subscriptions. People are going crazy over it. It’s a good gift at £59 a year.

What qualities do you need to set up your own business?
Nerves of steel! It’s interesting being women in the fashion retail business. When we first started out it was quite hard to be taken seriously by banks and accountants and so on. When we won an award for Greater London Young Entrepreneur of the Year, we started to get a lot more business media and that was when people’s perceptions changed. Alison is brilliant, she’s a really good negotiator. You’ve got to be assertive, otherwise you don’t get anywhere.

What do you enjoy about running your own business?
The flexibility. You’re your own boss. We work bloody hard but you don’t have to answer to anyone. If you have to go to the doctor’s or organise a holiday then it’s ok. I didn’t like having to report to people all the time. We both worked in stressful jobs, when it’s your own business it is still stressful but you manage it differently.

And you have quite a lot of celeb clients?
Yes, Sienna Miller used to shop here before she got famous. Regulars we welcome are Jools Oliver, Elizabeth Jagger, Thandie Newton and Jennifer Love Hewitt. And Scarlett Johansson said Coco Ribbon was one of her favourite stores! It’s crazy but there’s so much celebrity obsession these days.

www.cocoribbon.com For a 15% discount on Panty Postman visit www.pantypostman.com and quote marmaLADYa.com in the comments box. Enjoy!