Karen Millen reveals she 'misses the cleaner' she had before going bankrupt

Release time：2024-05-21 18:51:52 Source：Global Grasp news portal

Karen Millen OBE has revealed that she misses the cleaner she used to have before going bankrupt.

The designer, 62, who lives in Kent, made the comments in an interview with the Telegraph about her Saturday routine. 

As well as discussing her breakfast routine (homemade granola or eggs on toast at a local bakery) she revealed that Saturday is her 'day for cleaning'.

Karen said: 'I'll put a load of sheets in the wash and go crazy with the vacuum. I find hoovering, polishing and ironing quite therapeutic. When it comes to cleaning the toilets and bathrooms, though, I miss having a cleaner.'

She added that she 'never had what people call ‘staff’ before [she] went bankrupt', but that her cleaner would come twice a week.

Karen Millen OBE (pictured in London in March) has revealed that since going bankrupt, she misses her cleaner

'I think when you’ve had something and you lose it, you appreciate it more,' Karen added.

The designer, whose eponymous business used to be worth £35million, went into administration in 2019.

In August 2019, the online branch of the business was bought for £18.2 million by Manchester-based company Boohoo — the online 'fast-fashion' outlet for 16 to 25-year-olds, which also owns Coast and PrettyLittleThing.

The buy-out came just two years after Karen had been declared bankrupt in the High Court after being unable to pay a tax bill for an eye-watering £6 million.

She is no longer allowed to use her name in any business capacity and no longer owns the label, but designs collections for it.

Karen told the outlet that if she has nothing else planned, she will often do some work on Saturday, saying she enjoys is so much she does not consider it to be work. 

She said: 'If I’m designing a collection I’ll be drawing with a pencil on paper – I’m old-fashioned like that – or knocking up little bits and pieces on a sewing machine or on a mannequin, or going through colours.'

Karen added that as a small child, she was always getting involved in creative endeavours like making clothes, painting or drawing.

The designer (pictured in London in March), whose eponymous business went into administration in 2019, lost £35million when she went bankrupt

And once she was old enough to use her mother's sewing machine, she would make clothes for herself and for her sister. 

Another of her Saturday pursuits is walking her dog in the Kent countryside, where she now lives, though not in her old family home.

Bankruptcy led to her losing her £2.5 million family home, a six-bedroom Grade II-listed building set in five acres in Wateringbury, Kent, which had a swimming pool, lake, cinema and football pitch. 

She has previously said of the loss: 'We'd lived there for 20 years and I was given a year's grace — it was a big house to empty — so I was literally driving out of the gates when the receivers turned up to change the locks.

'It was an awful time. My children lost their family home. My youngest, who had been two when we moved in, took it hardest.

'When I heard that Boohoo had bought the company, I was pretty devastated,' adds Karen. 'Mainly because it meant the stores would close and something we'd worked for 20-odd years to build would disappear from view.

'I feared it would be out of sight, out of mind.'

Kate Middleton wearing a Karen Millen dress in October 2022. The designer said she 'felt such a mixture of emotions' about it as she didn't design the garment - but it unmistakably had the Karen Millen aesthetic

However, despite the label losing its high street presence, it has had something of a resurgence in recent years, and clothing from the brand has been worn by high-profile figures including the Princess of Wales and Liz Truss on the same day in 2022.

Speaking about the day the two women wore the dresses, Karen has said: 'I felt such a mixture of emotions that day.

'Pride that two of the country's most high-profile women were wearing labels with my name on them, both looking great and making headlines.

'At the same time, there was some sadness because the brand has nothing to do with me any more.'

However, she received many congratulatory texts from friends, and she accepted the compliments graciously, as while she hadn't created these particular garments, they were unmistakably 'her'.

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