OR SPOTLIGHT

Woven & Made in England

Tori Murphy (A’93)

In 2012, Royal College of Art Graduate Tori Murphy (A’93) founded iconic British label, Tori Murphy Ltd. The brand was established with the simple aim to create products for the home with character and integrity, all woven and made in England. After graduating, Tori worked in Milan, designing prints for clients including DKNY, Fendi, and Christian Dior and it’s here she experienced the factory floor for the first time and developed a sound understanding and love of textile production. After this rewarding experience, Tori returned home and combined her passions into one and focused on English textile manufacturing.

With a firm belief and plenty of perseverance she succeeded in finding weavers in Lancashire, finishers in Yorkshire and machinists in Nottingham willing to support her. From her first fabric run of 12 metres of woven Merino wool, Tori made a capsule collection of throws and cushions which she exhibited in London

in June 2012, and it was here she took her first order from a store on London’s New King’s Road, signalling the launch of Tori Murphy Ltd.

Almost a decade on and life is a very happy one, with a beautiful family and successful business. Tori and her team operate from a small factory in Nottingham where the product range has grown to 15 categories and stockists are now worldwide, including Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Conran and Selfridges & Co. Tori Murphy fabrics can now be found in showrooms in Chelsea London and Austin Texas as well as

being available online through torimurphy.com. Brand collaborations include an extensive fabric

production run for sofa.com and projects with Jo Malone. Tori credits her drive and ambition with the ethic instilled in her during her time at Repton from 1993-1998. Despite a career in the creative industries not being as widely recognised as it is today, her passion for design was encouraged and nurtured by Repton’s former Director of Art Jeremy Bournon, building the confidence and belief that anything was possible. Having produced thousands of fabrics for a global client base, Tori continues to work hard to grow an authentic and creative English homeware brand.

We are delighted to welcome Tori into our careers and mentoring programme as an inspirational industry ambassador, providing us with experience in textile design and production that we know will help to inspire and motivate current pupils during an important time in their career development and decisionmaking. More information on our careers and mentoring programme can be found in this edition of The Arch.

Ice & A Slice

Sam Trett (L’02)

Sam Trett (L’02) tells an awe-inspiring tale of rags to riches, built on a foundation of grit, determination and.. juniper berries. His passion for botanicals and, quite by accident, chemistry, were seemingly the perfect recipe for his entrepreneurial success. Halewood Artisanal Spirits recently snapped up the business, taking the brand to new heights amongst an established spirit portfolio including

Whitley Neil, Crabbies and Dead Mans Fingers.

Sam graduated from Edinburgh University and jumped straight into a year as Sports President, representing the university at a number of events, notably holding the Olympic torch and even meeting Her Majesty the Queen during the Jubilee. Sam’s love of sport stemmed from his time spent at Repton where he was a keen athlete after discovering that English hockey didn’t involve an ice rink as it had done in the

US! Sport helped Sam to forge strong and close connections with friends at Repton where there was an emphasis on extracurricular activities. He believes these activities are a key part of the reason he has a strong work ethic, gaining valuable skills for life from some of the “best

teachers he had during his education”. Having identified a gap in the market for lowcalorie alcohol, Sam set about creating Minus 33. In true start-up fashion, Sam spent a year formulating gin recipes himself in a lab, with a good friend who later became known as the “botanical genius”. Sam does see the irony in this year of experimentation, having been asked to leave Chemistry classes at Repton on more than one occasion. At the end of the year they had refined the initial recipe, secured funding, and production run one was underway. Things were looking positive, sales were strong and there was growing interest in the brand. Life on the road repping his brand was good.

Unfortunately a tough few years followed, with meetings postponed and injury wreaking havoc on the development of the brand, sales flatlined and Sam knew that he needed to change the narrative. He set about looking for employment to fund the development of Minus 33, taking on a position as an employee of a cider company in Dundee. Learning the art of launching a new brand in the highly competitive drinks category was beneficial to Sam who fought to claw back ownership of Minus 33 and start again with renewed vigour. Working with Halewood, together they transformed the sales trajectory and delivered a robust NPD pipeline, seeing two new flavours launch into the product portfolio.

Having recently sold his share of the company, Sam is now looking at new opportunities, eyeing up the lucrative Whisky market amongst other projects. As well as supporting young people into employment through educational providers, Sam has also joined our careers and mentoring programme as an industry ambassador. Sam brings a wealth of experience in product design, development, and taking new products to market. He also has experience pitching to investors, our own Dragon if you like!