DARE TO DREAM
At first glance, the jump from publishing to sewing pattern design is not an obvious one. But chatting to Nina Lee – whose collections are inspired by culture, heritage, and women everywhere – all becomes clear.
“My career in publishing had taken a turn away from the creative towards sales and business, and it just didn't really suit me,” explains Nina. “I was sort of floundering and my then-boyfriend (now husband) said to me 'What would you do if you could do absolutely anything right now?' and without hesitating, I said 'start a pattern company'. Within one month I'd handed in my notice.”
Nina’s love of clothes was a seed sown many years before. “I'd always wanted to do something involving clothes,” she confesses. “As a child, I used to love paper dolls and would design and draw additional clothes for them.” An avid sewer since her teens, Nina decided to study pattern drafting in 2016. She then developed her branding and built herself a website, finally launching with three patterns in March 2017. “I'd had a brilliant few years in museum publishing,” she says, “but was really feeling in need of a change of direction and a new challenge.”
As ambitious as it sounds,
