Gosforth boutique Havetolove can be best in the land

Sep 30 2009 By The Journal

A STYLISH Newcastle designer boutique has been shortlisted for one of the fashion retail industry's top awards.

Kate Walton, 27, scooped the Womenswear Retailer of the Year Award two years ago for her Gosforth store Havetolove and she has just made the shortlist for the competition run by Drapers magazine for 2009.

The entrepreneurial designer said: "Havetolove is taking its place amongst the fashion retail elite.

"We are very honoured to be nominated for this category, placing havetolove amongst the most impressive and established retailers across the country. Winning the Drapers Award for Best New Business 2007 in our first year of trading was a remarkable achievement and we hope that havetolove has matured to become the finest womenswear retailer of 2009."

The three-year-old store has won a number of prizes and can list celebrities including Victoria Beckham and Cheryl Cole as customers.

Ms Walton, who says she was inspired to go into fashion by her mother and grandmother taking her to shops and markets as a child, made her name first as a designer of handbags after she graduated in fashion marketing from Northumbria University School of Design.

Her bags earned her a nomination in the Topshop Accessories Award and a shortlisting in the Shell Livewire Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. She was shortlisted for Grazia’s Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Awards and went on to start her own retail business with advice from Business Link and the Arts Council. Her Hawthorn Road shop stocks a range of couture including her own designs.