The Interview: Deryanne Tadd of The Dressing Room on 20 years of successful independent retail

Deryanne Tadd set up her independent, multi-brand boutique, The Dressing Room, in St Albans 20 years ago. Over the past two decades it has successfully navigated through numerous challenges from the advent of e-commerce to the lockdowns of the pandemic and, to this day, remains a shining light of British independent fashion retail.

Tadd is one of the most familiar and respected faces at trade shows, both in the UK and internationally, and leads a team of 20 at her business, which at any time stocks around 100 brands both online and in-store.

She talks the TheIndustry.fashion about what drove her to set up the business and what continues to drive her to succeed and innovate in one of the most challenging sectors of retail.

Congratulations on your 20-year anniversary! Before we get to that, can we take you back to your career before The Dressing Room, how did you start out in fashion and what did you do?

Thank you! And yes, let’s start at the beginning! I am a true shop girl through and through, I started my career on the shopfloor as a sales assistant back in the early 90’s for high street retailers such as Knickerbox, StirlingCooper and Warehouse. I rose through the ranks from sales assistant through to store management and secured a job as Store Manager and buyer for a new franchise business for French Connection. With zero buying experience I quickly learnt on the job with mentoring from my boss at the time and soon became Operations & Buying Director for the business and together we opened five franchise stores in the South East over 7 years.  In 2004 the business was sold back to the parent company and that was decision time, do I go and work for a large corporation again or shall I take a leap of faith and start my own business? There was really no contest, I knew I had to start out on my own and began working on my business plan for The Dressing Room whilst doing a temporary stint as an Area Manager for the London area for LK Bennett.

I secured funding with a loan secured against my home and set about finding the right location to launch my business. I knew I wanted to open the business in an affluent commuter town, so I was looking at units in Marlow, Henley, Windsor and St Albans. Eventually after 6 months of searching a small 550 sq ft unit became available in a secondary location in St Albans and that was where the business was born.

You established The Dressing Room in 2005, what was the opportunity you saw then and what did the store look like at the start in terms of the brands you stocked?

I wanted to open a multi-brand store that mixed niche labels with contemporary brands with an affordable to aspirational product mix.  The service needed to be second to none, with a strong emphasis on styling and making women feel fantastic, whether they were buying one item of investing in a new wardrobe.  I launched with a handful of brands at fairly short notice in terms of the buying calendar. The mix was made up of entry price points from Great Plains which I knew well from my French Connection days alongside boutique brands such as Antik Batik, Hale Bob, Essentiel and 7 for all mankind.  I still stock Hale Bob and Essentiel to this day!

That was on the eve of the big e-commerce explosion in fashion with Net-A-Porter coming into its own and brands like Farfetch and Matches starting on the e-commerce journey, how did you feel about that at the time? Was e-commerce always on the horizon?

E-commerce wasn’t part of my original business plan and wasn’t really part of my strategy back in 2005/2006.  My plan was to open 5-10 small stores around the south east area, but once I saw the opportunity for my business in St Albans and the growing appetite for online shopping I quickly pivoted and changed direction.  18 months after opening in the small store I moved to a location four times the size on the high street in St Albans, expanding my bricks and mortar. E-commerce followed soon after with the launch of the-dressingroom.com in 2008.

It was a slow burn in the beginning and took a long time to develop that side of the business into the revenue driver that it is now.

How did you go about finding your customer base and how did you set about buying for her? Did you have a persona in mind or was it more gut feel?

I didn’t have a rigid persona on paper, but I had a very clear sense, instinctively, of who my customer was. A lot of it came down to gut feel, experience and being totally in tune with the kind of woman I wanted to dress: confident, stylish, busy – someone who wants to feel great in what she wears without having to follow trends blindly.

It was also about tapping into those women that had lost their way and sense of self through lifestyle changes and making them feel fantastic through fashion and style.

Finding the customer base started with creating a physical space and atmosphere that felt welcoming, inspiring and different.  I wanted every woman that walked through the door or visited us online to feel that she was being personally looked after.

Have there been particularly memorable milestones along your 20-year journey and what did you learn from them?

There have been so many meaningful moments over the past 20 years.  Launching my online store a game-changer – suddenly we could have a much wider audience but staying true to my boutique experience online became more important the ever.

Navigating through the pandemic was one of the biggest challenges, it pushed me to adapt quickly to survive.

The cyber attack on my business back in 2023/2024 was a huge learning curve and has taught me to trust my instincts more than ever.

Finally I would say that the biggest memorable milestone was our 20 year anniversary celebration, this taught me the strength and power of community and personal connection in retail and how investing in exceptional customer experience will always win.

The independent retail market has been so challenged over the years, but you are still going strong. To what do you attribute your longevity?

My passion for what I do and for this industry even when times are challenging has helped me stand the test of time.  I put my heart and soul into the customer experience and I invest in my team to ensure they can deliver this in the best way possible both in store and online.  I am always looking at how I can improve and evolve my business, I never think ‘That’s good enough’, I strive for better and better and am always listening to what my team and customers are telling me.

Can you describe the in-store experience at The Dressing Room? What do you set out to do?

The customer experience is everything. It is personal, its friendly and it is backed with knowledge and flair for styling with a sense of discovery as I mix well known brands with new finds so that we can show women how to wear things their way.

It’s about connecting with our customer and seeing how we can help her feel confident. Whether she is popping in for something special or just browsing, its important she feels seen, listened too and never pressured.  The customer leaves feeling empowered, stylish and lifted.

Tell us about the brand mix. You have a huge number of brands on offer, how do decide what to keep, what to add and what to move on each season?

Yes, I have at any point up to 100 brands. The edit is made up of established contemporary names such as Ganni, Essentiel Antwerp, Rails and Day Birger et Mikkelsen alongside niche, smaller collections.

Accessories, Lifestyle and footwear are also a key part of my edit, we cover all aspects of your wardrobe so you really don’t need to go elsewhere.

I analyse my numbers and collections each season and decide what I need, what I need to drop and what I can reduce or increase budget on.  On the day though it comes down to the strength of the individual collection when I view it.

Which brands are the cornerstones of the business and why do they work for you?

My key brands all have something in common, they are great to work with and support their stockists alongside having great collections that tap into my customers lifestyle perfectly. Denim brands like Paige,  Frame and Citizens all offer incredible denim but all give my customer a different look and feel.  Essential Antwerp and Stella Nova give my customer a sense of fun in her wardrobe whilst Day Birger et Mikkelsen and Munthe provide her with elegant, scandi chic separates. Rails gives an elevated off duty look and Dea Kudibal is super feminine and classic.

How big is your team and who is doing the buying with you? Or is that entirely controlled by you?

When fully staffed my team is made up of 20 women who all bring different skills to the team dynamic. I control the buying completely, however I will bring some of my team along with me to trade shows and value their opinions. I will often refer to my team for what they might feel we have missed in the collections and if there are any particular style needs that we haven’t been able to fulfil for customers in the season and will listen and react to the feedback given.

How much do trends play a part in your thinking. How do you keep on top of them and how do you interpret them for your customer?

I keep an eye on trends but my buy is not dictated by them. I know my customer so well and understand what will work for her what won’t. I work to introduce her to trends and show how they can work in her wardrobe in a way that is right for her. It is important to me that I keep a younger customer coming through also that will be more trend led, so brands like Damson Madder and Ganni are perfect for this alongside accessory brands like Sui Ava and Alohas footwear.

The mix works well and ensures that my edit is ahead of the game and keeps my customer looking stylishly on trend.

On the subject of your customer, how do you keep the relationship going and build loyalty?

In a world where people can buy anything from anywhere, we build loyalty through service, experience and connection. This is more valuable than anything. We of course have a great loyalty scheme that has been in place since day one and this rewards our customers but ultimately its about the personal connection that builds loyalty and longevity.

What about online? Do you have a different customer online and how do you find and keep that customer?

My online customer is varied. She might be someone that has visited the site through search and is looking for a specific piece or she might have discovered us through social.  Finding her really comes down to showing up consistently.  I focus a lot on story telling through my content which is what works to draw people to the site.

Keeping that customer is all about service, speed and emotion which is relayed through fast shipping, thoughtful packaging and customer care that is human and not robotic.  This builds loyalty far beyond that first purchase.

Do you find bestsellers in-store and the same online?

The brands are similar and follow the pattern that is showcased in our social and email content. We work on three main launches a week and these track similarly online and in store.

You’ve been doing this for 20 years and you will have seen some ups and downs in the market. How do you feel about market conditions now? How does your customer feel and do you bear in mind what’s happening on a wider economic level when you are buying?

Yes I have seen and worked through many ups and downs.  I certainly feel that it is getting more and more challenging and business overheads are much higher than they were even just five years ago. Alongside this, online is a challenging place to retail with the cost of returns and early discounting being major industry issues. I build these elements into my business strategy and have adapted the way in which I run end of season sales and am trying to find the magic formula to reduce returns but have not managed to find the solution yet!

When I set my budgets I always factor in the wider economic market and adapt accordingly.

You’ve reached this significant milestone, how are you marking this?

We have marked this in numerous ways. The most significant was our 20^th Anniversary celebrations in May. 120 guests celebrated with us as we held a fashion show and cocktails at the St Albans Museum.  It was just an incredible event and had a feel good effect that we are still experiencing now. I couldn’t have wished for a better day or a more perfect way to mark the occasion.

I also launched my exclusive fragrance, ‘edition 20 in collaboration with British perfume house Ampersand Fragrances.  The scent is a perfect way to further mark the milestone and customers love it!

What is next in the future story of The Dressing Room?

It is about deepening everything we’ve built – the community, the experience and the brand.  Staying close to my customer, listening and adapting fast. I’ll continue to invest in how we show up online as a brand in terms of styling content and bringing the boutique experience to her wherever she is.

Growth is important, however, ultimately my goal has always been about being not the biggest, but the very best at what we do and that means consistently delivering an exceptional shopping experience to make women feel amazing in what they wear and that will always be at the heart of what we do. Empowering my team to achieve their goals and help me to reach my future goals is key in ensuring the business continues to excel and move forward.