Boohoo founding director invests in fashion and footwear agency

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Jul 3, 2018

Jalal Kamani, founding director of UK online fashion retailer Boohoo.com, has invested £100,000 in a Manchester-based fashion and footwear agency whose clients include Footasylum, New Balance and Lacoste.

Launched by former Boohoo staff Emma and Katie Nattrass-Daniels in January last year, Crème Creative received the investment by selling a 50% stake in its business to Kamani.

The funding will be used for office and studio space in or near Manchester city centre and to expand the creative team to 20 people over the next 12 months. Crème Creative is seeking to hire creatives with experience working in-house at major fashion and footwear brands.

“What I saw with Emma and Katie was two talented individuals who have learned quickly on the job and are already doing amazing work with some of the world’s best-known brands. They both have the fire and drive needed to keep moving forward and I’m confident that with their creativity, business-acumen and people management skills I will get a solid return on my investment over the coming years,” said Kamani, whose brother Mahmud Kamani co-founded Boohoo with Carol Kane in 2006.

Jalal Kamani hit the headlines in January after selling 7.7 million shares in Boohoo, worth around £14.8m. The move sent Boohoo’s share price down by almost 5%.

Crème Creative MD Katie Nattrass-Daniels added: “It’s fantastic that a businessman of Jalal’s calibre and standing saw something in our work he thought was worth investing in.

“Crème Creative was started at a dining room table, without any loans, and it has grown quickly – in the first year we won Lacoste and worked on projects for JD Sports – so the business soon began to turn a profit. It means we can think about how we spend this investment; we have the breathing space to work to a strategy and grow at a steady pace, while ensuring quality and service levels are maintained.”

Crème Creative creates campaigns, branding projects and provides consultancy for fashion and footwear companies. Its client lists includes Mallet Footwear, Isawitfirst.com and Koi Footwear.