I've got an obsession with trousers

CLARE'S JOURNEY FROM SELLING SECOND-HAND SHOES ON A MARKET STALL TO RUNNING HER OWN £120M TURNOVER FASHION EMPIRE

- By DIANNE BOURNE

WHEN fashion entrepreneur Clare Hornby opened the latest branch of her fashion brand ME+EM on Manchester's King Street last weekend, it marked a full circle moment.

Clare grew up in Greater Manchester, and went to university in the city, and has now gone on to build a fashion empire with her brand which is known across the world for its 'affordable luxury' designerwear and praised for its 'innate sense of what busy women want to wear!

In the past financial year, ME+EM has registered a turnover of £120million, with sales across the world online, and with stores in the US and the UK. But Clare's passion for fashion - and entrepreneurship - started when she took a stall on Oldham Market at the age of just 15.

Clare, who grew up in Saddleworth, tells the M.E.N.: "I worked on Oldham Market selling secondhand shoes as a 15-year-old. They were Italian shoes with small faults, and it was a friend of my dad's, he said 'If Clare wants to try and sell these she can'.

"So Dad took me down at 6am in the morning, I queued for a stall... and I sold my first range. I worked out what people liked, the price they would pay, so I selected some more, and it went from there. I think I maybe always had the entrepreneur in me."

She had also established a keen eye for fashion with her mum as a teenager too.