Meet Charlotte Mills, Founder and Creative Director at Luxury Bridal Footwear Brand: Charlotte Mills

Charlotte Mills, a luxury bridal shoe brand, our main goal is to create shoes that stand out from the crowd, that are romantic and fun, while being comfortable enough to last all day.

Our shoes have been worn by many different celebrities such as Fearne Cotton and fashion influencer Chessie King, each style is handmade in Spain using the best materials and craftsmanship.

How did you come up with the idea for the company?

I studied at Cordwainers, part of London College of Fashion, and graduated with BA (Hons) in Product Design & Development for the Fashion Industry.

It was here where I first created a bridal shoe collection for my graduation show and joined the roster of alumni, including Jimmy Choo, Patrick Cox, and Sophia Webster.

After working for some of Britain’s best-known high street brands for several years, the concept for Charlotte Mills Bridal was still a burning ambition. Using a £20,000 business grant, repaying my house and collecting every penny I could find, I launched my eponymous collection in 2014.

What makes us so unique is the glistening silver sixpence in each pair of shoes, which become our bride’s “something old,” the handcrafted, delicately embossed words on their luxurious leather soles that have undeniably quickly become our signature feature.

How has the company developed in recent years?

We have grown stronger and stronger and we can proudly say that we are one of the industry leaders.

In terms of products, we have expanded our range of wide bridal shoes in recent years, an area that was really missing from the bridal shoe industry. Our collection of matching clutches was a hit with our brides, along with the launch of our bridal trainer in April this year, which was so well received that we plan to launch a second trainer design later this year.

Over the past 2 years we have seen exponential growth, which was absolutely amazing considering how damaging COVID-19 was to the wedding industry. We believe that having such a strong online presence and an easy-to-use website was one of the key factors influencing our massive growth, with much of the bridal industry shutting down and so many wedding plans coming to a halt, something to clear the minds of brides high was doing the little things before the big day, like buying their dream shoes online. We have also improved our packaging, giving every customer a luxurious and exciting unboxing experience.

We have also grown from a team of 3 to a team of 9. We have just moved into our new headquarters, a much larger property that offers us so much more growth opportunities. We’ve also opened our London Store in Chelsea, giving our brides a place to shop our shop in the south.

What can we hope to see from Charlotte Mills in the future?

We are ready to scale and hope to expand our online presence into new markets to make it much easier for our international brides to shop our shoes.

We plan to continue to listen to our bride’s testimonials and adjust the range and add new products and lines accordingly, their feedback is always paramount when designing new styles.