![\"Me+Em](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/https:\/\/d1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net\/production\/4b31575c-56f6-4d2d-b34f-2021a29ee362.jpg\")
Me+Em wool-blend Relaxed\u00a0Shoulder trench coat, \u00a3595, hanging in Hornby\u2019s home \u00a9 Philip White<\/p>\nClare Hornby is not a household name but many people bandy about her personal pronoun. She\u2019s the \u201cme\u201d in Me+Em, the\u00a0highly successful British womenswear brand that has grown into a \u00a3150mn business since its founding in 2009.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sold via its website, nine UK\u00a0stores and three department-store concessions, its clothes have been worn\u00a0by the Princess of Wales and Victoria Starmer, in C-suites and to weddings, across Europe and Australia. Increasingly, it\u2019s being worn in\u00a0New York, Dallas and Silicon Valley as the brand rolls out an ambitious retail programme in America. \u201cI\u00a0think whatever country our customers are in, what unites them is that they are busy women and they are looking for solutions,\u201d says Hornby, 56. \u201cAnd I\u2019m passionate about finding them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Me+Em wool-blend Relaxed\u00a0Shoulder trench coat, \u00a3595, hanging in Hornby\u2019s home \u00a9 Philip White<\/p>\n
The founder and CEO is driving serious business underpinned by a price strategy that delivers quality with value. You can buy a white pinstriped three-piece trouser suit from Me+Em<\/a> for less than \u00a3800, or a ruffled lily-of-the-valley-printed, 100 per cent silk dress for \u00a3550. \u201cWe\u2019re direct-to-consumer luxury because we strive to hit this gap between the lack of quality at the lower end of\u00a0fashion retail and the sheer expensive quality at the top. That\u2019s our model,\u201d says Hornby, a Manchester-born former advertising executive and retail marketing graduate. \u201cYou\u2019re paying a fair price for\u00a0what you\u2019re getting.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a325mn<\/p>\n Profit in 2024, up 24% on previous year\u00a0<\/p>\n It seems to be working. Since 2022 profits have been rising steadily, from \u00a315mn to last year\u2019s \u00a325mn, a 24 per cent growth on the previous year. In 2022, the company secured a \u00a355mn investment led\u00a0by growth equity firm Highland Europe<\/a> to accelerate its international expansion. A\u00a0major attraction, says Helena Richardson, principal at Highland Europe, was the brand\u2019s customer retention. \u201cWe saw metrics we\u2019d not seen anywhere else in the\u00a0consumer market. That comes down to\u00a0the\u00a0product,\u201d Richardson notes. \u201cCustomers were very loyal because the product fits incredibly well, sits in coherent collections and is phenomenal quality for\u00a0the price point. And, in\u00a0fact, [customers were] even\u00a0increasing their purchasing activity\u00a0over time with the brand.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2019, Me+Em launched e-commerce in the US. From 2022, the brand has trained its focus on a three-pronged growth strategy that has included scaled marketing in the US, and other countries such as Switzerland, France, Germany, Denmark, Canada and Australia. Last year it opened four stores in the US: three in New York (Madison Avenue, Mercer Street and East Hampton) and one in Dallas. More openings are planned, with Greenwich, Connecticut, slated this month, Los Angeles opening late autumn, and Stanford in 2026. Clearly, tariffs aren\u2019t troubling them. \u201cWe spent a\u00a0lot of time looking at the\u00a0data,\u201d says Hornby. \u201cCombining that with instinct, as\u00a0well as ensuring we\u2019re being fair\u00a0to our long-standing global suppliers, we made the\u00a0decision to continue.\u201d The\u00a0Madison outpost opened in\u00a0February 2024 and by year end in January 2025, net\u00a0US sales were at $60mn. \u201cThe customer\u00a0is as loyal as she is in the UK, so\u00a0the repeat rate is pretty much in line,\u201d Hornby\u00a0says. \u201cBut it\u2019s a\u00a0bigger population and they spend more.\u201d<\/p>\n Tailoring is what gets people in the door<\/p>\n Clare Hornby<\/p><\/blockquote>\n With her conker-shiny hair, a light tan offset by subtle gold jewellery and white slubby T-shirt with caramel-coloured cargo pants, Hornby is the epitome of the stylish Me+Em woman. As she welcomes me into the Holland Park family home \u2013 enviable corner location \u2013 that she shares with her husband Johnny, a marketing agency executive and co-founder (with Jeremy Clarkson) of lager brand Hawkstone<\/a>, and their two university-age daughters, she says: \u201cI did think about what to wear\u201d, as though admitting something surprising. They moved into the townhouse \u2013 with walls featuring a Sam Taylor-Johnson Suspended self-portrait and one of Nick Knight\u2019s Roses \u2013 six months ago from a house in the same area and live here during the week, with weekends spent at their home in the Cotswolds.\u00a0<\/p>\n Every working day in the brand\u2019s White\u00a0City HQ, every event, every work trip\u00a0is a market research opportunity. June, the\u00a0month in which we meet, has been a\u00a0whirlwind of social occasions, the previous weekend involving \u201cdress code shenanigans\u201d for a day at Ascot and a Midsummer\u2019s Eve party that demanded black tie \u201cwith a touch of enchantment\u201d. Naturally, Hornby wore Me+Em. For the party, she chose a cream floral-embroidery maxi skirt, white silk halterneck top and a gold Chlo\u00e9 belt, with flat shoes because she broke her knee in a skiing accident last year and now avoids heels. For Ascot, it was a cream and black polka-dot silk maxi dress.\u00a0<\/p>\n $60mn<\/p>\n US net sales since it launched in 2019\u00a0<\/p>\n The races were yet another public-opinion poll. \u201cI was walking around with one of our investors and he was trying to tell me which horse to back, but I was too busy clocking who else was in Me+Em,\u201d she\u00a0says. \u201cI didn\u2019t see two dresses the same and that was really nice. When you first start out, you\u2019re longing to just see one of your dresses somewhere and then a few years later you\u2019ve got the opposite problem of seeing the same one everywhere. So then you have to change that.\u201d<\/p>\n That comparatively pleasant issue of over-saturation was solved with a drop strategy in\u00a02023, delivering monthly collection \u201cedits\u201d in smaller production runs but with\u00a0a broader option count, focusing on a\u00a0wider variety of shapes. But event dresses are a relative come-lately to Me+Em\u2019s success. \u201cTailoring is what gets people in\u00a0the door,\u201d Hornby says.\u00a0<\/p>\n Me+Em merino and cashmere Relaxed Stripe Knit\u00a0Henley T-shirt <\/p>\n Price: <\/strong>\u00a3175<\/p>\n BUY<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Me+Em Eco-fabric Perfect Workwear Man pant<\/p>\n Price: <\/strong>\u00a3185<\/p>\n BUY<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n She put her money on pyjamas originally. After leaving advertising firm CDP \u2013 where\u00a0she met Johnny \u2013 Hornby went on to\u00a0launch Pyjama Room in 2007 with her friend Emma Howarth. Me+Em was founded two years later with Howarth, who\u00a0left the business in 2012. For\u00a0the first two years, Hornby designed the\u00a0lounge-focused line \u2013 her original black palazzo pants remain a bestseller. Then, in the mid-2010s, the brand broadened its offering to add tailored trousers. \u201cI\u2019m a trouser-obsessive so I was having a field day. I began working with a pattern cutter who is still with us now \u2013 she\u2019s German and she can stick with precision for as long as you want. Suddenly we started getting recognised for our trousers,\u201d Hornby recalls. \u201cOnce you own that, and if you keep committing to\u00a0it, you earn your authority to do\u00a0other categories.\u201d Its signature Man Pant has a repeat-buy rate of more than 60 per cent.\u00a0<\/p>\n We repeat the shapes and blocks, but we re-spin them so you don\u2019t feel like you\u2019re getting the same again. The customer loves newness<\/p>\n Clare Hornby<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Recently, they\u2019ve been \u201ccracking\u201d the oversized jacket, with the\u00a0Intelligent Oversized blazer. \u201cI can\u2019t wear the big fashion triangular shoulder look. I\u2019m too small and look ridiculous,\u201d Hornby says (she\u2019s 5ft 6in with a petite frame). \u201cBut I like that masculine look. So our jacket fits off the shoulder but doesn\u2019t look comedy. And then we put a scrunch in the sleeve, so that it\u2019s not hanging over your hands.\u201d I\u2019m unsure what she means by \u201cscrunch\u201d until I\u00a0try on Hornby\u2019s own black version, fetched\u00a0from the wardrobe, and discover the\u00a0elasticated scrunchie inserted into the lining of the sleeves, so that when you hoick them up, the hoick stays put.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe tailoring does something really clever but you don\u2019t realise until you put it on,\u201d says the broadcaster and Me+Em customer Emily Maitlis. She particularly loves a white trouser suit she has worn on several occasions, including to interview Tony\u00a0Blair earlier this year. \u201cThis sounds weird but it\u2019s calming. You put it on and think, \u2018OK, I\u2019ve\u00a0got this right; now I can think about the\u00a0content.\u2019\u201d Maitlis also has a\u00a0red\u00a0suit that is \u201cquite poppy \u2013 I like it for\u00a0doing American news\u201d. But her \u201cbest\u201d piece is\u00a0a\u00a0black midi dress she wore to do\u00a0The Late\u00a0Late Show in Dublin. \u201cPiers Morgan walked into my dressing room and just went, \u2018Wow!\u2019\u201d She laughs. \u201cI\u00a0know Piers Morgan is not infallible \u2013 but that instant reaction? I\u2019m going to go out on that\u00a0stage walking three inches taller.\u201d<\/p>\n Me+Em Italian cotton-mix\u00a0twill Fit And Flare maxi\u00a0dress<\/p>\n Price: <\/strong>\u00a3395<\/p>\n BUY<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Me+Em silk Polka Dot maxi dress\u00a0with corsage<\/p>\n Price: <\/strong>\u00a3595<\/p>\n BUY<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Confidence is something that Hornby wants sewn into all of her products. \u201cCan I\u00a0sit at that conference and not worry about whether my trousers are all creased when I\u00a0stand up? Is my button gaping? Are my shoulders sitting straight? If you\u2019re thinking about that you can\u2019t relax,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n 60%<\/p>\n Repeat-buy\u00a0rate of the signature Man Pant<\/p>\n Although Hornby no longer goes on sourcing trips, she personally checks every fabric with a \u201cscrunch\u201d test; she\u2019s fastidious about creasing. The aforementioned Oversized Blazer is made in lightweight Italian-made wool with a fluid, drapey quality. Suppliers are in Italy, Portugal, Turkey, India and China. \u201cWe repeat the shapes and blocks but we re-spin them. We\u00a0disguise it in such a way so you don\u2019t feel like you\u2019re getting the same again because it\u2019s not a menswear business,\u201d says Hornby. \u201cThe customer loves newness.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Recommended<\/p>\n In service of this, Hornby has, she says, entered a new stage of life \u201cwhere I walk around very hot cities an awful lot\u201d. To understand the American customer prior to\u00a0store openings, Me+Em held a series of\u00a0trunk shows and private events.\u00a0\u201cData can only tell you so much,\u201d she says. \u201cBefore opening Madison I went seven times. I\u00a0walked up and down that street at every time of day, at weekends, just to see the flow of the customer and where she goes.\u201d She is now an expert on hi-tech trainers (for the record, she rates On<\/a> and New Balance<\/a>), how to pack a carry-on for three days, and\u00a0what to wear to deal with air-conditioning. \u201cAir-conditioning is a gift,\u201d she says. \u201cBecause we can see that even in Dallas, they\u2019re buying a lot of jackets.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Clare Hornby is not a household name but many people bandy about her personal pronoun. She\u2019s the \u201cme\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":412281,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5010],"tags":[748,4884,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-412280","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wales","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-great-britain","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115178228724437265","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=412280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/412280\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/412281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=412280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=412280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=412280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/https:\/\/d1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net\/production\/169feb20-293d-4582-844f-e439b7611694.jpg\")
The Princess of Wales wearing Me+Em in 2023 \u00a9 Jordan Pettitt-WPA Pool\/Getty Images<\/p>\n\n
![\"Clare](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/https:\/\/d1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net\/production\/1803d944-1aca-437d-8e5d-de5ee1a65634.jpg\")
Clare Hornby in her living room at home in west London. The artworks on the wall are by Tim Walker and Loulou Avenue \u00a9 Philip White<\/p>\n![\"Me+Em](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/https:\/\/d1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net\/production\/fcda5dfd-7406-45eb-ad1e-ac0b3742019b.jpg\")
Me+Em Luxe Cord Sharp Shoulder blazer, \u00a3395 \u00a9 Philip White![\"Me+Em](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/https:\/\/d1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net\/production\/6d9e6cdf-cff1-4ed5-a431-5857f0e4d536.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"Me+Em](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/https:\/\/d1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net\/production\/e3e4983e-c88e-4f95-bbb7-bb9da27736bb.png\")
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![\"Me+Em](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/https:\/\/d1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net\/production\/9bd34aef-2652-489e-9708-a5addbfff9e2.jpg\")
Me+Em Sharp Shoulder pinstripe blazer, \u00a3350 \u00a9 Philip White![\"Me+Em](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/https:\/\/d1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net\/production\/b13c1e9f-faee-4d0f-98ec-66918dbb1371.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"Me+Em](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/https:\/\/d1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net\/production\/b277ccf7-c1ca-4cba-90c0-ec491022a4c4.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"Giorgio](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/https%3A%2F%2Fd1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n