Kettlewell launches a shopping experience like no other!

Melissa (wearing a Periwinkle Naomi Dress with a Camel Lara Waist Belt) outside the Colour Studio

Ever since founding Kettlewell back in 2004 I’ve dreamed of what I call my ‘Colour Emporium’; a beautiful, colourful space where customers can be guided by expert stylists through every step of their colour and style journey, supported to find not only their best colours but the perfect pieces of clothing to mix and match with the rest of their wardrobe and to make them feel amazing. In my daydream, the emporium includes a colourful Kettlewell tearoom (Kettlewell is my maiden name and I'm very partial to afternoon tea!)

It might have taken twenty years, but I’m overjoyed to finally realise my dream (without the tearoom – yet! But give me time…). This month we have officially opened the doors on our brand new Colour Studio; a shopping space like no other, where our expert stylists are ready and waiting to offer you advice and inspiration, helping you find colours, styles and combinations to fall in love with.

The Colour Studio came from a moment of serendipity (once again, my favourite word makes an appearance!), when a warehouse unit became available at Kettlewell HQ in Somerset. When I say warehouse, I really mean it – it was little more than a shed when we took it on in March this year – but I immediately saw the opportunity to bring the Colour Studio dream to life. Within weeks, our entire team had launched into action to create a unique, colourful and inspiring space for our customers to visit.

Jamie, our Operations Manager, gamely took on the role of project managing the conversion into a shop on top of his already-more-than-full-time role, while Lead Stylist Jo and I spent countless Friday nights after work plotting and planning how we wanted the customer experience to feel and look.

Progress photos, as an empty warehouse becomes Melissa's dream Colour Studio

Along with the mammoth task of converting a warehouse into a welcoming retail space, we also needed to find stylists with the unique set of skills required to give our customers the best possible service. We were incredibly fortunate to recruit four amazing stylists to work in the colour studio, all of whom have had a long relationship with Kettlewell and understand not only our products and colours, but also our desire to create an unforgettable experience for our customers.

The Kettlewell styling team -

(l-r) Heather (Spring, Natural Classic) Tasha (Winter, Dramatic Natural) Jane (Summer, Natural Ingenue) Sancha (Winter, Natural Gamine)

Finally, in June, the space was - more or less! - finished. Our first focus groups, made up of members of the Kettlewell Colour Club (our online colourful community), took place in July. They paid little heed to the lack of a ceiling in the toilet or the lack of air conditioning, and instead put all their energy and positivity into helping us polish up our offering and get it ready to serve out to our wider customer community.

(clockwise from top left) The preview launch party |  Jo, lead stylist, Eileen, a Colour Club member from the US, Melissa and Ali, Colour Club manager | The Kettlewell team and members of one of the focus groups | Jo chats to stylist, Annabel Czyba

On 5^th September we officially opened our doors, and as I write this only a couple of days later, all the careful planning, hard work, and late nights (don’t ask Jo about her Friday evening spent spray painting the walls or Jamie about the endless weekend trips with electricians, builders and plumbers!), the studio is filled with colour, excitement and, above all, overjoyed customers having a shopping experience like no other.

I was thrilled to receive the first piece of feedback within hours; here’s just some of what our customers have been saying since they visited.

If you would like to visit the Colour Studio , you can find more information and booking forms on the website

TAKE ME THERE