The Early Days of Mulberry

Where to begin? Since the early days of Mulberry, when I started selling vintage military uniforms to the pop stars of the day from the corner of a stall in Portobello market, to opening multiple Mulberry shops around the globe, via three Queen's Awards for Export, I have always been captivated and inspired by craftsmanship, in all its forms - the quirkier the better.

The Mulberry ‘Le Style Anglais’ Collection

Following my girlfriend (later to become my wife Monty) around various agricultural shows, where she was modelling knitwear to farmers wives, I was re-introduced to hand crafted, English saddle leather in all its forms – Mulberry’s new casual ‘Le Style Anglais’ was the result – saddlery inspired belts, luggage and handbags – hunting, shooting and fishing but with a twist. This was to last as Mulberry’s signature look for many years.

Suddenly our customers couldn’t get enough tweed, tartan and waxed cotton – particularly our European shops who loved the small ‘Duke of Windsor’ detail of the club ties, immaculate suits and eccentric accessories - pens that I lovingly collected to then reproduce with modern fittings.

In fashion, timing is everything. In 1994, we heard on the grapevine that Kate Winslet was starring in a major new film production called Titanic. We had invited Kate to be the Mulberry muse for us for our 1995 Mulberry Life brochure. When we published it, frustratingly, the film hadn’t been released and so nobody knew who Kate was… For once, we were six months ahead of ourselves!

Mulberry at Home

As we travelled the world selling our collections, we created exhibition stands that would inspire our customers, how often were we asked, "Can I buy that director’s chair or those changing room curtains?" That was the foundation of the interior design for our Mulberry shops which we opened around the world through the 1980’s.

Mulberry at Home came out of nowhere, when I knew we had to do something radical to survive the ravages of the recession caused by the Gulf War. Being at home, cocooning, was the sentiment of the time and this new lifestyle collection was just what the market craved, and with the arrival of the 90’s, we hurtled into this new world of interior design as it became the ‘new fashion’.

Our foray in 1996 into the world of hotels and hospitality was an education! Bought on a whim (actually the first ‘grown-up’ hotel I’d been taken to as a 7-year-old!), naively we thought that, as seasoned travellers – often with 3 children in tow, we could convert the rather tired Charlton House into the perfect spa retreat, furnished with all things Mulberry Home - what a journey!

I was allowed to indulge my passion for tracking down items that I would have happily taken home but instead had to find the perfect spot for them in the hotel. Sumptuous fabrics followed – many found in old design archive books. We put these to good use – see our Monks hood dining chairs designed for our (by now) Michelin starred restaurant.

The Mulberry Planner

We are living through one of the most exciting times of tech innovation, but before the iPhone there was… the Mulberry Planner, much loved by city boys and fashionistas alike. We went on to develop a Psion and then Palm pilot case - both best sellers in this fast-moving world.

The planner was the personal support system that grew from the Mulberry Filofax – including the Buone Forchetta (‘good fork’ or ‘greedy pig’) which was Mulberry’s guide to the best restaurants and hotels in the world.

The Mulberry Sporting Pursuits Collection

The concept of this range came from the need to be able to throw my bags into the hold of a 6 metre yacht or the boot of an historic racing car – robust and waterproof, this range was made to work!

By now my passion for historic car racing had overflowed into sponsoring tennis championships and 6 metre yacht racing, and so the Sporting Pursuits range was born out of necessity - it had to really work for me – both as clothing on the tennis court and for the luggage to be rugged enough for a yachts hold.

Add to this my love of speed and adventure, and you have a flavour of the items we (my wife Monty is also an avid collector of things that make her smile) have gathered in our 47 years together.

Bottletop Campaign

In 2002 Cameron, my middle son, came back from working for a charity in Uganda during his gap year. He brought home a bag made from Bottletops, and asked "Could we make this into a Mulberry bag, Dad?".  The straight answer was no, but instead I took old season, out of fashion leathers from storage – from green, orange, and yellow to purple and used these to line the bags, cover the handles and stamp them with the Mulberry logo.  

This lot (lot 262) represents the charitable endeavour to raise funds and awareness, firstly for Aids and its victims in 2002 and which has now gone on to become the UN #togetherband campaign today; fighting for indigenous people around the world and empowering women who have been rescued from human trafficking. It includes a photo of Jeanne Marine Geldof – taken by David Bailey who shot the whole campaign. All the money we raise from the Bottletop lots will go to their charity endeavour.

This eclectic selection from 50 years in the world of fashion, hospitality and historic car racing is now in Dreweatts' capable hands. We have now started ‘downsizing’, and our next challenge of converting our Spelt Mill to a new home, whilst developing our Organic Sharpham Park Walnut business over the last 20 years. 

My wife Monty and I have spent many hours, reminiscing over what to keep and what to part with, and we hope that you will get as much pleasure from viewing and purchasing from our collection, as we have had designing, collecting and treasuring it over the years.

Roger Saul, 2024

Auction Details

Wednesday 7 August, 10.30am BST
Donnington Priory, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2JE

Browse the auction
Sign up to email alerts

VIEWING:

• Viewing in Newbury:
  • Friday 2 August: 10am-4pm
  • Sunday 4 August: 10am-3pm
  • Monday 5 August:10am-4pm
  • Tuesday 6 August: 10am-4pm
  • Wednesday 7 August: 9am-4pm
• Dreweatts Remote Viewing Service | Available from Friday 2 August