Fashion Queen defrocked: Ghost story

After 22 years of the Ab-Fab life, Tanya Sarne has departed the fashion label she founded as an unemployed single mother. But did she jump or was she pushed? And what will happen to the business she leaves behind? By Terry Kirby

The language of the press release was sparse and gave few details. But it spelt the end of one woman's personal involvement in the company that she built from scratch into a multimillion-pound operation and one of the most respected names in the fashion industry.

"Tanya Sarne has decided to part ways with Ghost, the company she founded 22 years ago, to pursue other interests," said the statement issued from the company's west London headquarters yesterday, adding that she "will no longer be involved in any aspect of its running".

Sarne, as is usually customary on these occasions, was also quoted: "I feel sure that the new management will uphold the philosophy of Ghost and wish everyone involved success in the future."

In the fashion world there was a feeling that Sarne's departure had been inevitable - it is not the first time that a designer or "creative force" behind an independent and successful fashion label has sold a stake to a bigger business and found themselves on the sidelines within months or at most a year or so. Look at what happened to Jill Sander or Helmut Lang when they allowed Prada in, said the pundits.

Precisely how and why the final separation occurred remains unclear and Sarne is believed to still be bound by a condition of the final settlement to prevent her speaking openly. But it seems unlikely Sarne's peculiarly British combination of eccentricity and flamboyance would have made a happy marriage with the corporate hard-headed attitude of the people who now control Ghost, the retail entrepreneur Kevin Sanford and the Icelandic investment group Arev, to whom she first sold a controlling interest in her company for £5m in December last year.

As one fashion insider who knows her well pointed out yesterday, this is, after all, a woman who employed a cook to prepare gorgeous food for lunch for her staff every day, most of whom she appeared to count as personal friends and whose somewhat scatterbrained approach to everyday life led to her becoming one of the models for the Edina Monsoon character played by Jennifer Saunders in the television comedy Absolutely Fabulous. "Her way of doing things is simply not the way big business operates," said the friend.

Now, women fans everywhere, including her celebrity customers like Jennifer Aniston and Emma Thompson will be waiting to see whether the new company will truly uphold "the philosophy of Ghost". The friend said: "The fear is obviously that they water it down and make it a bit more uniform, a bit more high street. But it is early yet and one good sign is that they have said they will continue to do the fashion shows."

Sanford, now non-executive chairman of Ghost, knows the high street: he is the co-founder of the Karen Millen chain and currently has substantial stakes in Moss Bros and Mulberry.

So, what is the philosophy of Ghost? And how did Tanya Sarne go from being a poverty-stricken single mother to someone whose dresses regularly appear on the red carpet at the Oscars or Baftas, all without any formal training in designing or the fashion trade?

Sarne, now 60, was, and is, a classic west London chick, a Notting Hill boho girl long before Stella and Sienna and the rest were even born. From a middle-class family - her father was a journalist - she went to the University of Sussex, which, in the mid-1960s was the cool place to be seen studying. She had done a little Lucie Clayton finishing school-style modelling, but after graduating, went to teach.

In 1969, she married Mike Sarne. In the early 1960s, while still at university, Sarne had a major pop hit with the novelty song "Come Outside", but by then was an aspiring film director; his biggest success would be the 1970 film of Gore Vidal's novel of transvestism, Myra Breckenridge, which starred Raquel Welch. (Sarne still makes films, commercials and acts, most recently appearing in The Bill.) She gave up her job to travel the world with her husband, whose friends, at that point, included Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty. The couple had two children, now both in their thirties.

After nine years, the glamorous life came to an end. Fed up with her husband's infidelity, she returned from Brazil - where he had been attempting to make a film - suffering from the after-effects of hepatitis, with two small children in tow and was forced to claim social security. "We were malnourished and had worms," she told an interviewer.

Always interested in clothes and fashion, she was a fan of vintage finds from thrift shops long before it became the thing to do. Now driven by necessity to work, she looked in vain for clothes to wear on a low budget. Two things came together in her mind and she thought she saw a gap in the market: she began designing clothes for, as she described it, "women with individuality". Hampered by her lack of experience, it was only when she met a trained pattern cutter that she could bring her ideas to life.

Her idea was to create clothes "that worked with woman's bodies, as opposed to the other way around".

Ghost was born in 1984, taking the name from the idea that she would use a team of in-house designers to "ghost-write" the collection, although she would retain overall creative control. Her own contribution was described as "making clothes work on the body. I get very involved with the fittings."

But even then, she might have fallen on her face, if it had not been for her Big Idea. This was the use of raw, woven viscose, a fabric made from wood or cotton derived cellulose treated with various chemicals.

Formerly known and much derided as rayon in Britain, Sarne discovered that when shrunk and dyed it takes on the appearance of vintage crepe. It was light, breathed, flattered the body and was adaptable to different sizes and weights. And, unlike most other designer creations, you could throw it in the washing machine without fear and it didn't need ironing afterwards.

The result was a range of feminine, ethereal, clinging dresses and skirts that adapted easily to a range of women's shapes and won her a strong following of women of all types and ages at first in Britain and then around the world, particularly the United States. There was always a strong vintage and Victorian flavour that would influence other designers such as Stella McCartney.

"Her designs were very feminine, with wide appeal and are accessible to woman of all ages," said Anna Kierstan, a writer for Drapers, the fashion industry bible. "She was one of the few British designers to really make it as a global brand."

For a designer name, her creations were also modestly priced, starting at around £100.

And, although she has a reputation for scattiness and lateness, those who know her describe Sarne as pragmatic, down to earth and sometimes stern with her younger employees, although, as one profile said, equally likely to offer them a bed for the night if they needed it. "There is a still a bit of the school teacher about her," said a friend.

It was a pragmatism that helped build a solid business. Ghost now has more than 300 worldwide stockists, particularly in upmarket stores such as Harvey Nichols, Selfridges and Liberty and four shops: two in London and one each in New York and Los Angeles. Several years ago she launched her own label perfume; Ghost jeans have followed. The company employs about 300 people.

But despite the £25m turnover and the customers, Ghost has always been on a financial knife edge - the company made just £499 in 2005 and recorded a loss of £72,000 the previous year. Which is why the investment by Sanford and his partners was needed.

So, what now for Tanya Sarne? Success bought money and, for a time, a lifestyle where the Ab Fab persona was honed, although she has recently given up smoking and, it is said, drinking, claiming the nightclubbing days are over.

She still lives in Notting Hill - "it's the centre of my universe" - in a large, rambling house which has hosted legendary parties, and has other homes on the south coast and in Los Angeles. Her current partner is Andrew Paresi, former drummer for Morrissey and now a writer/comedian.

Will she, like Sander and Lang, now eventually choose in effect to retire from the spotlight and spend her undisclosed pay-off, or will she come back with another label and another design ethos? "I don't think she knows herself yet, it's far too early," said her friend. But one feels the fashion world would be all the poorer for her continued absence.