School friends turn to the internet to launch their fashion business

Now, 15 years on, best friends Dawn Hunter and Victoria Reddington, both from Barnsley, have launched their online fashion store www.fashionpony.co.uk, offering independent labels and emerging designers at high street prices.

Victoria says: "Since we

were youngsters in the same class at Foulstone High School, we have

been passionate about fashion and it has been something that has always tied us together."

"The idea is to give women clothes that suit all their moods without the worry of bumping into someone wearing the same thing," says Victoria, who grew up in Darfield, in the next street from Dawn.

She admits that both made a host of fashion faux pas before finding their own look. "Most of us develop a signature style by the time we reach our 20s or 30s, but within that we all have different moods. Fashion Pony – our take on the term 'clothes horse' – is about offering people something that is a little bit different that's on-trend, a little bit edgy but still affordable."

Featured designers will include Leeds Independent Designer of the Year Lisa Jaynne Dann (now on her way to Vancouver Fashion Week) and labels such as Rare, Brat and Suzie, Reverse, Goldie and Glamorous, and clothes from new design talents such as Ringlit, Rene K, Rebekah Murphy and Kelly-Ann Couture.

An online campaign through Twitter, Facebook and high profile blog sites has ensured a rapid following. "It's been a bit of a whirlwind entre into the business," said Dawn, who has a degree in law and six years' experience working for fashion retailers including the Arcadia group and New Look.

Victoria has managed the websites and marketing strategies of multi-million pound accounts and witnessed the way in which design influences every aspect of people's lives and moods.

"The fantastic thing about our friendship is that we are both very different women," says Dawn. "Vic is much more adventurous than me in terms of her own personal style but we both admire women with the confidence to express their personality in the way that they dress.

"We can look at someone with very individual style and, while it might not be something either of us would wear, we can appreciate the way they have put a look together and admire the result. That's what's so fascinating and totally absorbing about fashion – it's such an incredibly personal but visibly way of expressing who you are."