Sarah Richards is the Founder and Director of Olive Road London Ltd. A creative sewer and maker, first taught by her nan’s Mary and Betty, she enjoyed making clothes for her Sindy dolls as a young child. Sarah went on to study Fashion & Design at the London College of Fashion at BTEC HND level. After college, Sarah enjoyed a career as a Junior Buyer for Arcadia for 6 years.
A change in career, Sarah became an Executive Assistant working for the Guardian Newspaper whilst studying for a BSc in Health Sciences at the University of Westminster.
In 2012, Sarah then returned to Fashion Retail as the Executive Assistant for the CEO of Cath Kidston Ltd for 5 years. It was this experience of working alongside print designers and being surrounded beautiful vintage influenced designs that inspired Sarah to start Olive Road London. Making small accessories from vintage fabrics, Sarah realised that the fabric was the star and started collecting beautifully printed and textured textiles to sell. In 2018, she was awarded a grant by Tower Hamlets to help grow her vintage fabric business, launching at The Knitting & Stitching Show in North London.
Sarah became interested in a sustainable fashion whilst working at Cath Kidston. Recently awarded a certificate from the University of Exeter and Fashion Revolution, she actively campaigns for a circular fashion economy including writing articles on the subject. Refashioning vintage fabrics is a form of recycling and prevents textiles from becoming waste and entering landfill. Sarah teaches people to mend and re-model their clothes at regular workshops around London in collaboration with Eleanor Tull and called Fast Fashion Therapy.
Sarah lives with her husband in East London.