Freya Rose London takes to new heights as Portsmouth woman sees her business soar in the fashion industry

Portsmouth born and bred, Freya Rose Archer, 42, embarked on a successful business journey as she established her hand crafted bejewelled shoes 12 years ago, and she has the likes of Kate Moss and the Princess of Wales wearing her products.

Freya grew up immersed in the world of jewellery. Her mother, Barbara Tipple, is an international award winning jeweller and Freya lived above their first shop in Marmion Road.

She grew up in the presence of a strong and hard working woman, as her mum, who bought her up single-handedly, worked six-day weeks to ensure she had everything she needed – but things were not always easy and her mum struggled with money during her childhood.

She said: ‘My mother is a renowned fine jewellery designer. Her love and knowledge and passion for jewellery stones and craftmanship really became part of my DNA, even today we work closely together. She lives round the corner, her workshop and shop is a few minutes away from my own workshop.’

The 42-year-old’s success did not come instantly and her career grew ‘organically’ as life pushed her in a multitude of directions. She grew up in Portsmouth and she found herself at college studying beauty therapy. After applying to London School of Fashion to do originally do makeup, she was told that she needed an art foundation, so she attended Portsmouth Art College, where she found a passion for sculpture and fabrics.

Freya said: ‘I had a ‘this is it’ moment with fashion. I could visualise the 3D aspects of a shoe and could see it, and I thought this is it so I applied to London School of Fashion and I moved to London.’

After realising her love, she stepped into an industry of fabric, glitter and crystals as she began her fashion career and found a new light in her life as she decided to pursue her passion for design.

She began the business, Freya Rose London, in 2010 after receiving a grant from The Princess Trust, but soon stumbled across difficulties as a she became a single parent to her son, Johnathon.

Freya made the difficult decision to move back to Portsmouth seven years ago, when she realised she needed more support from her family. It has proved to be a successful move because it pushed her to explore the e-commerce world where she thrust her business into the online world, which catapulted it to becoming one of the top businesses in the industry.

Not only did her business soar, but she also met her husband, Matthew, and she had her second child, Willow, who is now four years old.

The business, which specialises in hand crafted jewel encrusted shoes, has been 12 years in the making, and it has gone from strength to strength over that time, but this past year has seen a huge increase in popularity and profit, and Freya is celebrating this year’s success.

Freya said: ‘I started the business 12 years ago and organically it has grown, but it wasn’t until a couple of months ago that the business has really taken off.

‘We went up by 400 per cent in 2020. This year particularly has been our most successful year to date.’

During the pandemic, she had an epiphany to start making jewellery to try and keep her audience engaged with her products whilst they were mot able to go out and about to parties and social engagements.

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A month after her launch of the new jewellery range, the Princess of Wales was spotted wearing Freya’s earrings.

Freya said: ‘It blows my mind that the future Queen has been seen wearing my pieces.

‘I work with a family run business in Spain and artisan jewellers on the beautiful Island of Bali for over 10 years now, and Bali has a rich heritage for jewellery making. I consider each and every artisan that turns my vision into reality a friend.’

Not only has Freya been a successful businesswoman, a triumphant mum to her two children and a doting wife, but she has also been recognised recognised at the Every Woman Awards, where she became the 18th winner of the Daily Mail’s Aphrodite Awards, which was set up to recognise hard working women who have set up their own businesses whilst their children are under the age of 12.

The awards were held at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London on December 8, and Freya came up trumps as she walked away with a prestigious award which has recognised the phenomenal work she has done with her business.

Freya said: ‘It is just unbelievable really and it blows my mind. Firstly, I was really shocked because all of the designers were amazing and all deserved to win.

‘It is recognition of my own personal journey rather than what the business has achieved. It is an huge accolade of what I have achieved as a woman and what we have achieved with the lack of support financially and the fact that I have grown this business organically. I was really emotional. I think there are so many opportunities out there for young girls and the worst thing is they don’t even know the opportunity is out there.

‘There is a whole big world out there full of opportunities. I think in life and when you are starting up a business, you are always faced with problems. My advice is to always keep learning because I think we need it to keep evolving. We have done well this year, but I know we have got to keep moving and we can’t take it for granted, and to make sure we are getting our business out there.’