I visited Yorkshire vintage fashion brand House of Foxy to see how it makes its Ossie Clark and Biba style designs

“I'm definitely returning to my roots. As a designer, I want to produce something that isn't out there, that's got something special about it.”

Established in 2010, House of Foxy began life selling reproduction clothing made by a variety of vintage specialist brands, after Clarissa, a hobbyist jive and swing dancer, realised that there was a gap in the market for retro-style designs that fit modern women.

In 2012, she launched her own house collection, made at a small factory in Scotland, with the design studio and business HQ in Elland. It proved popular and manufacturing began also in Poland, so that House of Foxy could expand its wholesale and launch a diffusion range called Pretty Retro, making typical vintage designs such as 1940s shirt dresses and 1950s swing dresses at affordable prices. Menswear brand Cousin Jack launched in 2020.

“We had been on an upward trend,” says Clarissa, as she takes me on a tour. “We had a decent amount of stock, things were going our way. We were doing a little bit of advertising on social media, but most of it was through events and word of mouth - and then Covid hit and everything stopped overnight, pretty much. It was a very, very difficult time.”

This was a turning point for Foxy. The factory in Scotland closed. “None of us knew during Covid how long it would last. We thought each lockdown was the final one.”

But out of adversity came opportunity. She decided to set up manufacturing at Wellington Mills. “We've got a factory here now with five machinists and a cutter,” she says. “We make approximately 100 to 150 units a week.

“We can bring out new styles within a week from here. And the skillset in there - I've got one lady in particular who has 30 years’ experience in bridal.

“What I'm trying to do now is start focusing on producing some really beautiful things.”

Clarissa is also working on rebuilding the wholesale side of the business, which suffered after many shops went under, so Foxy is still making some designs in Poland. “But there just aren't the same numbers of shops, that's the problem,” she says. “The vintage scene isn't what it was.”

This means that the vision and focus of Foxy has been changing. “I don't want to be pigeonholed into Forties, or producing for a retro scene that's not really in existence any more,” she says.

“I'm a hobbyist fashion historian, since I was a child. What I'm really going back to is my love of vintage clothes, irrespective of specific eras. We're doing ‘20s through to ‘70s.”

Inspired by the likes of Ossie Clark and Biba, Clarissa and her talented team are now creating high-quality 1970s-style designs including fluid maxi and wrap dresses, cord jackets and jumpsuits. Clarissa is a huge fan of Ossie Clarke, whose use of bias-cut fabrics, a popular technique in 1930s fashion, allowed for a fluid and drapey silhouette.

“He was known for his ability to create clothing that was both stylish and comfortable, using soft, flowing fabrics like chiffon and jersey. His signature style combined a bohemian sensibility with a touch of glamour, creating a look that was both effortless and chic,” she says.

Other eras are still very much there and available, with gorgeous new designs inspired by 20th-century decades. Clarissa shows me a late 1930s-inspired coat that she based on an original image, and modernised.

“It's a Princess line style, heavily shoulder padded and made in 100 per cent wool. It's just it's not the sort of thing you'll find on the average High Street. And we make them in limited numbers, so we'll probably only make 20 of these.”

Fabrics for Foxy designs come from all over, especially Europe, often using newly made reproduction prints. “Marocaine is as close to vintage as you can get nowadays. They used a lot of rayons - it needs to have that heaviness, so it does what we need it to do.

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“They are certainly made with a lot of love by our seamstresses here, who are all Yorkshire folk. I was really worried that I wouldn't be able to find machinists, and then these two young people in their 20s applied. So I think there are still people that just really want to make.

“What we're trying to do is say, look at this, it's gorgeous, but you don't have to be that polished vintage fashionista to wear it. A shirt dress is a shirt dress, a pair of high waist trousers is a pair of high waist trousers.” She says she wants to reach fashion lovers who want something that's “really, really well-made, because well-made is not as easy to find”.

The designs are made to a two week pre-order at the moment, and available up to a size 24 in most cases.

House of Foxy is also taking part in the Bankfield Museum exhibition The Art of Making Historical Costume, which runs until the end of December, showcasing pieces including a blue velvet evening dress made especially for the display.

“We are supplying a lot of costume departments,” Clarissa says. “We have a theatre company in New York that buys stuff for their extras.

“I'm also doing more of a few 20s styles, so I'm going broader in general, because that's what I love. We have a lot to go at, but it's really for the modern wearer. It's not fancy dress. It's styles that are beautiful and classic, that can be mixed into modern clothing.”

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