I started flogging skirts at a country fair aged 22 – now I have a £40 MILLION business & Princess Kate’s a fan
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STARTING a business is never easy, but Jade Holland Cooper proves that with determination, you can turn a country fair stall into a multi-million venture. Now 38, Jade reveals how she turned her passion into a high-end fashion brand Holland & Cooper, loved by the likes of Princess Kate.
![[Jade Holland Cooper revealed how she turned her fashion brand into a £40 million business]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/www-instagram-com-p-dbwvqqai6ij-958732026.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Speaking on the Working Hard, Hardly Working podcast, Jade sat down with host Grace Beverly to share her business venture and how it all started. The brand was started in 2008, when Jade was 22 and took a selection of 20 tweed skirts to a stand at Badminton Horse Trials.
![[Her designs are loved by Princess Kate who is seen wearing one of her tailored trench coats]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/britains-catherine-duchess-cambridge-arrive-958737414.jpg?strip=all&w=713)
Now, the brand is synonymous worldwide for its luxury British Heritage style including tailored tweed designs. Jade grew up on a farm surrounded by chickens and ponies and as she grew up, assumed she would take over the farm so headed to the Agricultural College.
![[Jade started by working on stalls at horse fairs]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/055c3006-ae1d-43ac-9b6b-f7b5a259939f.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
But Jade always had a creative side and quickly realised she was on the wrong path. She said: "I was going to events like the country events, Cheltenham races, Badminton horse trials, and I couldn't find anything to wear that everyone else wasn't wearing. And I was thinking, wow, there is a white space here because I can't find what I want.".
![[Now she shares her tips for a successful brand]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/www-instagram-com-p-dbwvqqai6ij-958732055.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
After a year on the course, a teacher told Jade she should leave, knowing she wasn't fulfilled on the course. Jade had made some designs for some tweed skirts and had a friend of the family's make them for her. She headed to the Badminton Horse Trials and set up a stall that was just 2 metres long.
![[Kate also wore her tartan design while on a visit in Scotland]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/prince-william-duke-cambridge-catherine-655764871.jpg?strip=all&w=548)
