Exquisitely British - The British Entrepreneur Club for Luxury Brands 

Tell us about yourself, Virginia.

 

Since graduating from Central Saint Martin’s in 2011 I have interned and worked in London, New York and a brief stint in Milan. Having joined my family’s business and taken on the challenge to revive our brand “Tranquilitie” I mainly spend my time between West Yorkshire and London. 

 

Can you tell us about Tranquilitie's history and how you got involved?

 

Tranquilitie, a brand of the former James Walker and Sons Ltd (now James Walker Textiles) was founded by a family member in the 1930s to supply hotels and retail stores with quality wool blankets. In early 2000 all of our production in Yorkshire sadly had to move abroad with a new focus. This left the Tranquilitie brand side-lined and wool blanket production came to a halt.

 

I joined the business in 2013 and made it my mission to bring back some of our production to the UK. I mapped out a direction for the brand - what I wanted Tranquilitie to stand for and how we were going to achieve this.

 

Who is a Tranquilitie customer?

 

Someone who appreciates quality and timeless products. They look for investment pieces which will last decades rather than weeks, and that may be passed down through generations. I think it is important that Tranquilitie products appeal to both men and women and can adapt to both country and city life. 

 

What has been your biggest challenge? 

 

Getting people to know we are here. It is all very well developing a brand and launching a website which can be admired around the office but actually getting people to start engaging with us online is hard work and time consuming.

 

What has been your biggest highlight?

 

There have been many including the launch of our online store – seeing the months of hard work come together was amazing and also our first feature in Country and House magazine.