The Ethical Fashion Brand In Turmoil, What Now For Royal Family Favourite?

Beulah, the luxury ‘ethical’ clothing brand had the complete checklist that any fashion brand would covet.

Celebrity fans: Pippa Middleton, Kate Moss and actress Sienna Miller to name but a few. Check

Ethical intentions: Check

The ‘most influential’ Member of the Royal Family wearing your range: Check 

And yet the fashion brand has collapsed after appointing advisory firm, Quantuma to enter voluntary liquidation and now its biggest financial backer Mary Demetree is reportedly threatening legal action as she stands to lose £400,000 lent to the label. The Times has reported that creditors are owed almost £1 million.

HRH The Duchess of Cambridge has been turned to the brand on several occasions, wearing dresses, a jacket and scarf from a variety of Beulah collections from 2011 onwards.

It has been suggested that The Duchess of Cambridge is the biggest royal influencer in the wake of lockdown, according to the Daily Mail, with an ‘aspirational yet accessible’ style, which combines championing new designers and wearing affordable household favourites like Zara.

When she wore Beulah’s red and white floral “Calla Rose” dress, it reportedly sold out online in 24 hours. And selling out just shows the lengths dedicated ‘Kate-fans’ will go to as the dress was worn on a conference call and only seen from the neck up. That would be news to usually delight any investor, yet the brand’s largest backer is reportedly on the verge of taking legal action.

Mary Demetree, of Demetree Global is an American Philanthropist and known as ‘The Empire Builder”. With a significant real estate portfolio, the Demetree legacy is part of modern day history, as Demetree’s father famously sold Walt Disney the 12,500 acre hunting camp on which the Magic Kingdom was built.

Ms Demetree states one of the secrets of her success is investing in people not projects – and that could have been one of the elements that attracted her to Beulah’s founders Lady Natasha Rufus Isaacs and Lavinia Brennan.

Brennan and friend Isaacs, traveled to Delhi in India to teach English and textile skills in safe houses to women who had been rescued from trafficking. 

After meeting with charities and factories in India, and making dress samples on the trip, the entrepreneurs acted on the ‘light bulb’ moment to create a fashion line that also provided a sustainable livelihood for the very ladies they had supported. 

Beulah (meaning to come from darkness to light in Hebrew) was born in 2010, with intention to make positive social impact. Both founders highlight they created the company with no business experience, balancing their common sense with advice from strategic mentors and external advisors.

That didn’t limit their ambition however, in an interview with ‘Smart & Relentless’ website, the aim for Beulah ‘s next decade of growth was to become a ‘global, luxury lifestyle brand creating products that are beautiful aesthetically but also have a strong social impact.’

With 55k followers on Instagram, their website is currently “under maintenance” and any enquiries about their products, including dresses priced £350 upwards are currently being directed to their customer care team.