The more Ab Fab became famous, the more we did
Daily Post
|October 25, 2025
TV star and business guru Mary Portas tells HANNAH STEPHENSON about putting 'Harvey Nicks' on the shopping radar and her different vision for retail
-
WHEN Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley descended on Harvey Nichols out of hours to film the first Absolutely Fabulous in the early 90s, Mary Portas, the store's creative director who had arranged the TV setting, knew she was taking a huge risk.
Her decision could go either way. She could get free marketing for the store through the new BBC show, attracting masses of curious customers, or it could become the unfortunate butt of every fashion-induced joke - not cool.
"I really didn't sleep. I just had this feeling they were going to put a store in as the store you go to. I knew they were dropping names of designers. I thought, if they name drop a store I want it to be ours. I couldn't bear the thought it could be another one.
"The risk was it could have been a send up, a laugh at, and because I was unable to see the script, quite rightly, I did take that responsibility."
She needn't have worried. Within weeks of Ab Fab airing in 1992, Harvey Nicks was teeming with mothers and their teenage daughters eager to see what all the glorious fuss was about.
"Ab Fab then went global, so you had all the international people wanting to see the store that they went to. A lot of international money suddenly came in, but it brought the younger market in as well and they became lifers because it was just joyous. And the more that Ab Fab became famous, the more we did."
Harvey Nicks became a character itself and helped Mary and her team take it from faded to high fashion in five years.
"You have those times in your life, those turning points," says the retail guru, author, TV star and marketer, who charts her career in the mad, materialistic world of the 90s in her new memoir, I Shop, Therefore I Am. Mary, 65, says she already has nine production companies pitching for the rights to a TV adaptation, plus a scriptwriter in place.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der October 25, 2025-Ausgabe von Daily Post.
Abonnieren Sie Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierter Premium-Geschichten und über 9.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Sie sind bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
WEITERE GESCHICHTEN VON Daily Post
Daily Post
Chef to the stars
LAUREN TAYLOR meets renowned chef Nobuyuki 'Nobu' Matsuhisa to talk A-list guests and why he has no plans to retire
3 mins
January 03, 2026
Daily Post
2025 set a new high for UK warmth
LAST year was the UK's warmest since records began, the Met Office has confirmed.
1 mins
January 03, 2026
Daily Post
ZEST FOR LIFE
BEEN GIVEN A CITRUS PLANT FOR CHRISTMAS? HERE'S HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF IT ALL YEAR
2 mins
January 03, 2026
Daily Post
US 'locked and loaded'
US President Donald Trump and top Iranian officials have exchanged threats as widening economic protests sweep across parts of the Islamic Republic.
1 mins
January 03, 2026
Daily Post
Getting jumpy over cat's fleas
I found a flea on my cat and have treated her with a pet shop spot-on.
2 mins
January 03, 2026
Daily Post
DEFENCE TWEAKS ARE NOT HURTING ATTACK
Van Dijk stands by tactical changes
1 min
January 03, 2026
Daily Post
POLICE SEEK 'SUSPECT' AND MAN SEEN WITH HIM OVER INCIDENT ON BUS
POLICE want to identify a \"suspect\" after an incident on a North Wales bus.
1 min
January 03, 2026
Daily Post
Family's blaze escape 'shows how important smoke alarms are'
EARLY WARNING 'MADE ALL THE DIFFERENCE' SAYS FIRE SERVICE
1 mins
January 03, 2026
Daily Post
THE LIES HAVE IT
DAWN FRENCH REVEALS TO YOLANTHE FAWEHINMI WHY SHE WAS TEMPTED BACK INTO STARRING IN A NEW SITCOM
4 mins
January 03, 2026
Daily Post
I wanted to detonate a bit of an explosion
LYNN RUSK CHATS WITH ERIN DOHERTY, MALACHI KIRBY AND CREATOR STEVEN KNIGHT ABOUT SERIES TWO OF A THOUSAND BLOWS, SET IN
3 mins
January 03, 2026
Listen
Translate
Change font size
