Meet The Designer: YAITTE’s Danielle Windsor
As a young child I was always creative – doodling and curating scrapbooks from magazine cuttings. When I started studying at De Montfort Art School, I commuted two hours a day up a steep hill to my classes with my huge A1 art folder. In two vital years, I was taught the concept of fashion as an art form and was inspired to pursue it as a career.
I’ve been in the fashion industry for over 18 years. My job always involved a lot of travel and I found I was reaching for the same item for every trip – a simple, smart shirt – but I struggled to find the cuts I liked and often ended up heading to the men’s departments. In 2017, I decided to launch YAITTE – a luxury label that’s rooted in the idea of creating effortless, timeless styles for modern women on the move.
YAITTE is all about building a wardrobe of elevated staples that marry form and function. I consciously source materials and work with the very best craftspeople so that our collections last, not only in quality but in style too. The name (pronounced ‘ya-tay’) is a play on the Spanish word for yacht. I was based in A Coruña for a while with work and this experience really shaped me.
We dress all women. Whether you are in your 20s or 70s, the brand has a universal appeal. I always wanted to create a brand that was inclusive of all ages, sizes and cultures and that is what we are seeing. Our customer base is growing and we are starting to gain international recognition.
We are a minimalist family who like things a certain way. I think the brand’s clean lines and classic wearability cross over into my homelife. My love of stripes has rubbed off on my interiors, and my husband and I start the day drinking coffee from striped Jeremy Ayers mugs that we found in Mociun in Brooklyn years ago.
I love doing photoshoots for the brand and we have an amazing team. We are all on the same page when it comes to what YAITTE is trying to achieve and evolve into. I think it's crucial for everyone on our shoots to want the brand to do well, especially one that is growing like ours. I really want to shoot on a yacht, but the insurance is crazy, so I have promised the team, if we hit targets I am flying everyone out to Palma!
Holidays and travelling are central to the ethos of the brand but we also want our clothes to be central to everyday outfitting. We hope our customers will keep coming back to their pieces for different occasions, knowing they’ll feel and look amazing. YAITTE is focused on the idea of women on the go, be that in the city or vacation.
My next holiday is to Port De Sóller with my family. We know it really well and we have our favourite places. It's very relaxing even with two children under four. When I am away, I always layer my YAITTE shirts over my swimwear. I love to have lunch at Patiki Beach at a farm-to-table restaurant which also offers a delicious pink sangria, which is great in the late afternoon. Our Palma shorts or Janeiro trousers are perfect bottoms to lightly pack and put on for lunch or dinner. They feature an internal elasticated waistband so feel comfortable yet stylish.
We love seeing our customers share their looks and are constantly inspired by how they style them. For us, it really is the beauty of social media. As a small-business owner, I get so much joy from every single customer, but I have loved seeing @Filis_Pina, @TheFashionGuitar and @JiYoungKim6364 in my designs. They always look incredible.
I like to travel frequently as this always provides me with fresh inspiration – be that stumbling across a flea market or seeing the latest street styles. Quality and craftsmanship are central to my design ethos. I typically start a collection by sourcing fabrications and working with my mills to create bespoke stripe artworks and lab dips, then I begin curating the range.
I’ve always been a bit of a tomboy, dressing my petite frame with oversized clothes. I think style is a natural evolution and, like everyone, I’ve had my moments, one of which my husband brought up in his wedding speech. He mentioned standing behind me in the queue for a cocktail bar in Manchester and noticing me in a tweed waistcoat and short trouser ensemble! I’m a big believer that great style should be effortless, but there can be some trial and error to get there. I am a true YAITTE woman – it's rare not to see me in an oversized shirt and denim. I’ll often pair this with a strong heel as they make me feel more confident.
I love Khaite even if my bank balance doesn't. RAEY is excellent for oversized denim jeans, which pair with my shirting and knits really well. I adore Bottega Veneta leather goods and Olivia von Halle's nightwear, specifically the striped sets of course.
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