What’s been your biggest achievement in business [Klass’ enterprises include lines for Mothercare, Littlewoods and Very]?

Still being here – it’s very easy when something launches to have all the attention and the spotlight shone on what you’re trying to launch. But it’s tough to have the staying power.

How have you managed to have that staying power?

I think by having a huge awareness of the importance of diversifying and understanding what our place in the market is. A lot of people feel that pressure of others saying: “Well, if I were you, what I would do is a, b,c and d.” But I often think: “Well, you’re not me and until you’re doing it better than me and bigger than me, I’m going to keep on treading my path.”

You have referred to yourself as a mumpreneur. Some business women like the term, while some are less keen. Do you think it’s an important part of your business that you’re a mum?

I don’t know why they’d be less keen on it!

The word mum can be seen so negatively: “You sound like a mum”, “That looks mumsy” , “Don’t be a mumpreneur’.

To be a mum is the hardest job I’ve had in my entire life. It’s the most fulfilling job, but also the most stressful because your audience is never satisfied. I’d wear that badge with pride and own that title of mumpreneur, because you have to earn that title; it just shows what every mum does – they diversify, they think outside the box and they’re enterprising.

How do you decide which companies to work with?

For me to have a successful babycare range it was essential that I worked with a company that could support me [and share my values].When you’re dealing with baby clothes, what Mothercare do is follow the health and safety elements that are involved.

We can’t have clothes that shrink by more than 20% in the wash, we can’t have anything that is a fire risk. Everything goes through the most stringent health and safety tests but then that’s where our mark-up comes from. But when people are then shopping for cheaper [quality] clothes, they find that they fall apart or the labels are itchy. I’m genuinely shocked that clothes like that are allowed to go out onto the market.

To be affiliated with Mothercare was a powerful point for me, I knew I was working with people that weren’t going to jeopardise the safety element, but at the same time the aesthetic needed to work within those safety requirements.

What made you decide that you wanted to go into clothing, and children’s clothing?

It’s not such a tenuous link – some people just think: “Weren’t you that girl in Hear’Say? Didn’t you launch a line?” It wasn’t as black and white as that.

When I used to go to sleep as a child, I’d hear the whirring of my mum’s sewing machine. Every single night without fail she would be making us dresses and, before her, her father worked in textiles. She was enterprising, she used to add lace to the hem of any dresses that were getting too short for me. After a couple of years I used to end up with a veritable ra-ra skirt.

When I see an outfit that’s not right after the first Cad or design is drawn up, I don’t just think “Throw it on the pile”, I can find a way to make it work.

Has your mum been a source of advice?

My mum and dad have always been very encouraging for anything I’ve wanted to do. Sometimes when I ring my mum, it’s for reassurance that I’m doing well but I won’t always get the objectivity that I need!

You need self belief and self awareness, being a musician helped me with self awareness. You have to be objective about a piece and know if it’s working or not and be able to say it hasn’t reached its potential – that can take a strong will.

How important is the branding of a product?

It’s not necessarily the dress you buy on the hanger, it’s also the marketing that surrounds it.

A lot of companies take that for granted, they think they’ll get a celebrity to wear it and that will be enough. But it’s also about why would you buy into that person. Why would a white bikini designed by me be any different to a white bikini designed by someone else?

Do you oversee every product?

I see everything, there’s not a single thread on a single garment I don’t know about. I know exactly where it started to all the way through to when I get my gold seal of approval on the factory floor.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned in business?

When things go wrong is when you learn. I’ve learned to be enterprising, such as when I had a factory send through 5,000 white trousers, that were meant to be all white, but came with yellow pockets.

So I dyed the entire lot lemon and they became a bestseller. I know about the cultural differences in every single country I sell to. I just came back from Dubai and there are certain colours and characters that aren’t worn there.

I’ve also learned to stand by what you do. I think some people are shocked that I’ve interviewed Anna Wintour on the red carpet in my Littlewoods dress for Paris Fashion Week, but I’m really super proud.

What’s the toughest part?

To find people that are like-minded. When you’re doing international calls to Hong Kong [at all hours], you need to find colleagues that are going to be willing to work the same hours as you. Getting the team around you that have the same work ethic as you and the same focus is paramount.

What are your plans for the future?

Mothercare is opening two stores per week in the Far East and in South America, so that’s where I’d like to go next. In the line of work I do, anything is possible as long as you’re brave enough. If there are any boundaries, you have to find a way around them.

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