Born in Watford in 1960, Mary Portas is a businesswoman, broadcaster and activist. She joined Harvey Nichols in 1989 and left in 1997 to found the marketing agency Yellowdoor (now Portas). In 2007, she began her television career with the BBC Two series Mary Queen of Shops. She was retail tsar for the UK government in 2011, and is a co‑chair of the Better Business Act. She has three children – two with her ex‑husband, Graham Portas, and one with her ex-wife, Melanie Rickey. Her new book, I Shop, Therefore I Am, is published on 2 October.
This was taken at my office in Harvey Nichols. I was finding my feet as a creative director, so magazines wanted to put me on their pages. The clothes – Norma Kamali trousers and a Donna Karan bodysuit – were a subliminal way of reflecting who I was. In my early 20s, I was dressing to cater to the trends. As I approached 30, I realised it was time to consider my personal style: dynamic, strong and sharp.
