A woman who began making and selling clothes from her spare bedroom has opened a shop in Beeston, taking on an ‘exciting’ adventure. In 2020 Suzie Ford made a huge career change and began her sustainable clothing brand, Ford & Guy, as an online store on Etsy, a global online marketplace, where people come together to make, sell, buy and collect unique items
Now, the 31-year-old from Long Eaton has opened up a brand new store on Chilwell Road in Beeston. The Ford & Guy shop sells a range of sustainable clothing and homeware made locally.
The shop also acts as a creative hub where Suzie hosts a range of workshops and events. The store, which is painted in a striking pink colour, first opened on April 2 this year.
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“It has only been a couple of months, so it feels like it’s not been a while. But people have been really friendly, everyone seems happy that we’re here which is nice,” the 31-year-old said.
“All the local businesses that we’ve talked to are really friendly and supportive so that’s really good and people have been really up for the workshops that we are doing which has been really great - we’re enjoying being here.”
Before beginning her brand, Suzie worked in science, travelling the world experimenting with mosquitoes and the dengue virus. During the coronavirus lockdown she took a different career path and began her sustainable and ethical clothing brand in her spare bedroom at home.
She continued: “It did start on Etsy. It started about three years ago, in 2020, a lot of people probably found in lockdown that it's 'if not now, then when' sort of feeling. I know that a lot of people changed careers at that time, I was just one of them.”
Suzie added: “I’ve always been a maker, I love making, I’ve sewn since as long as I can remember and that’s just been me through and through. I think it was really in lockdown when I was able to sort of find time again and some space to create; so I started selling stuff on Etsy which is a really great platform for testing the waters.”
She then posted some products on her Etsy page which went ‘mental’ with many customers buying her products. “I think it was probably because the algorithm is quite kind to you at the start because it wants to get information about how popular your product is, so it went surprisingly well at the start,” Suzie said.
“I sold a few things and thought ‘maybe I could do this’. We eventually built our own website and that’s where most of our sales are now.”
In August 2022, Suzie then took on seamstress and designer Molly Walker, 21, who is a former fashion design student at Nottingham Trent University. The pair worked together in Suzie’s spare bedroom as the brand became increasingly popular.
Suzie said they had an intense amount of orders in August after adding hand painted pieces to the website. During this time they had gained 4,000 followers on social media in just one week and reached 7,000 in total.
The two worked around the clock making the clothing items and, with orders increasing, decided to look for a studio space. Suzie continued: “I know a lot of makers around here from all the markets that I used to do, I know being able to sell in a shop is a really sought after thing for a small business.
“I thought if we could get a studio that also had a shop front, then we could try to open up an opportunity for everyone to be able to sell, as well as just us. So it would be mutually beneficial to everyone.”
“Then it kind of got traction, we started to look for places and it got exciting and real. We live locally and in this area there are a lot of people that really enjoy craft, people that really appreciate art, handmade things and sustainable items.
“There’s a couple of restaurants and cafes down here and things that value sustainability which just felt like the right place.”
Shoppers can find a mixture of clothing, homeware, fashion, underwear, accessories, prints, jewellery, candles and pots. All the items have sustainability as the main focus and all of the makers are local as well.
Seamstress and designer, Molly, first met Suzie at a market where she asked for some work experience. The two have worked together since and now Molly says the new store is a ‘great environment’ to work in.
Molly said: “She took me on for a few days which has been really great, obviously she gave me the opportunity which I'm very grateful for.
“The experience which is very hard to come by as well. Sustainability has a huge impact in my life as well. I've always wanted to work in the fashion industry but down a sustainable line because the fashion industry can be quite toxic and I don’t want to add to that.
“I want to continue that in my career so I think we’re a great match. Working here is a great environment especially since we expanded. It’s really nice to get my designs out there.”
For Suzie, the next step for the shop is to focus on her fashion. She said: “I think that I’m really feeling it out at this point and learning what people want and need locally as well before I make any plans about if I'm going to expand and how.
“I feel like I am enjoying where it’s at, at the minute. My next step is trying to manage having that shop and still pushing my brand and building my fashion.
“I think that is going to be a really important next step. It’s been really difficult opening the shop and managing that at the same time so that’s probably where my energy is going to be.”
