Jewellery, buttons and a conceptual bra: how the Royal Mint boss found a new source of money

Anne Jessopp at the outlet for the Royal Mint’s jewellery line, 886. Photograph: Suki Dhanda/The Observer

In the shadow of the Eiffel Tower in September, throngs of fashion elites were flocking to a makeshift catwalk along the French capital’s Avenue de Saxe.

Paris fashion week was in full swing. But as the likes of Vogue editor Anna Wintour and Olympic diver Tom Daley took their seats for Stella McCartney’s summer 2025 runway show, Anne Jessopp found herself fighting nerves.