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Child-Friendly Fashion With St Albans’ Angel & Rocket

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Managing Director of Angel & Rocket, Lewis Bostock, explains to Ellie-Mae Hammond the ethos behind the brand and what’s next on the cards for the fast-growing company

For family-run business Angel & Rocket in Marlow, the sky poses no limit. Having opened their second store in St Albans this June, the pandemic evidently did not chip away at their ambition.

Living in a society where the next fashion ‘trend’ is always around the corner, it is always pleasing to see a family-run business being able to compete with high street brands. With that being said, it’s not very often I am left with sincere curiosity when it comes to anything childrenswear, seeing as I am only a fur mother; however all of that changed when I sat down with Lewis Bostock, managing director of Angel & Rocket, a childrenswear brand making its mark internationally.

“We wanted to bring a premium brand to market, offering great design in sustainable quality fabrics,” he states. “The high street is a massive influence for us, however we felt there was an opportunity to come into a market that was very trend led, but offered affordability and not at the expense of quality. The thing that sets us apart from other big retailers is that our brand is more unique. If your child turns up to a party wearing one of our outfits, it’s almost certain that nobody else’s child will be wearing the same thing.”

Angel Rocket Is A Real Family Run Business
Angel & Rocket is a real family-run business

Fashion has always been at the heart of the Bostock family, when you learn about Lewis’s mother Kate’s experience in the fashion world, having held executive roles with large retailers including Next, Asda and Marks & Spencer. It was no surprise when the idea formed to launch their own brand back in 2013. Lewis’s brother Joel is a senior designer on boyswear, so it seems there is not much this family cannot do. “My family has always been involved with fashion, retail and manufacturing,” he says. “I have so many childhood memories of going into one of my dad’s factories on the weekends, labelling garments, doing whatever I could for a bit of pocket money. I saw the path formulating, I always wanted to be a buyer, but then I fell into the sourcing and manufacturing side – and since then, I have never looked back.”

What impresses me is Lewis’s enthusiasm to understand the full process, from sourcing to manufacturing. He didn’t just want to see it for himself, he wanted to experience the entire process. “I went and lived in Sri Lanka for six months, to understand how they sourced and manufactured,” he continues. “The opportunities I have had to travel and visit factories all over the world – India, Turkey, and China to name a few – and seeing how different cultures do manufacturing and how they treat their workforce really broadened my perspective. Childrenswear is very different: you have the fashion side, but also the safety aspect. Whenever you manufacture childrenswear, you have to make sure it performs to the highest standards.”

When I first encountered Angel & Rocket, it was the designs that caught my eye. “We follow ladies and men’s trends and then filter them down, making them age and culture appropriate,” Lewis explains. “A big area we will be developing is our occasion wear. With the expectation of there being more weddings and parties this year, there is a hope that the demand for occasion wear will be higher than usual.”

Angel Rocket Cater To Both Boys And Girls
Angel & Rocket cater to both boys and girls

Since launching their first store in 2017, the brand has continued to raise the bar for both the quality of their products, and their reputation. “Whenever I see a little kid wearing our clothes, it makes me feel immensely proud – that feeling will never get old,” he smiles. With a solid reputation, comes the ability to act on ambition, and Angel & Rocket has exceeded just that by continuously growing their global footprint. “Right now, we have customers all over the world, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, and a few in the US, however our long-term ambition is to grow our international footprint, by being stocked in market places in the US.

“The next phase of our plan is to look at more store opportunities. Alongside this, we are launching with John Lewis in September, and beyond this, we are also planning to be available on Zalando by the end of the year. We have been lucky enough to have the most amazing support from our partners at Next, another platform where Angel & Rocket can be bought.”

Angel & Rocket, without a doubt, have truly lifted off. 

Exclusive online offer 15% off with code: Absolutely15

1 St Peters Street, St Albans, AL1 3DH

020 3982 9991

angelandrocket.com

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