A union of creative and business savvy

Mark Eley and Wakako Kishimoto have succeeded in the fickle world of fashion.

Most designers at London Fashion Week make do with just one show a season. But when the Spring/Summer 2005 schedule kicked off in September, husband and wife designers Mark Eley and Wakako Kishimoto had the rare accolade of seeing their work appear twice on the same catwalk schedule - once to showcase a collection designed for sportswear brand Ellesse and once for their own mainline label, Eley Kishimoto.

The duo set up their business 12 years ago, and its survival and growth with hardly any outside financial backing is a rarity for London-based fashion designers. Both graduates in textile design, they began by working for clothing designer friends in London and soon moved on to win commissions for prestigious international fashion clients including Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Versace. They are best known for their use of print: strong, eclectic patterns that range from pretty, floral Liberty to jungle vegetation, buffalo and antelope.

The Eley Kishimoto business has been built on gradualism, a fact illustrated by their studio, a slightly ramshackle hub of creativity in an ex-jam factory in Brixton, south London, taken on on a long lease in 1994. The last of the three floors was occupied just three years ago. Since they moved in they have gradually built up to a staff of around seven full-timers.

Only six years on from start-up did they launch a full collection of ready-to-wear clothing. This has won them stockists around the world - 130 at the last count - with a particularly strong following in Japan and clients including Harvey Nichols and Liberty in the UK.

Eley Kishimoto's business ethic has been strongly influenced by working closely with Japanese customers. "The idea of longevity in business relationships has been important, as well as security and trust. As a result, we try not to overburden ourselves with orders and so the work we take on we handle more responsibly," says Eley.

Partnership is another theme for Eley Kishimoto. Two years ago, they signed a deal to create an exclusive collection for high street fashion chain New Look, in return for which the retailer paid the £30,000 cost of staging their London catwalk show each season. The deal was ended this year after four seasons, but now the duo has teamed up with Ellesse to produce a high-fashion clothing range to go on sale in the shops next spring.

Organising their own production through locally based factories had proved an occasionally fraught experience. A year ago, a company to which they had entrusted to manufacture two-fifths of their collection went bust four weeks before delivery was due. By sheer luck a replacement manufacturer was found and deliveries were only six days late, but it is not an experience the couple wanted to repeat. So this summer they signed a three-year agreement with an Italian manufacturer, CIT, to produce the whole of the autumn collection, with a full licensing deal from next spring onwards.

Product diversity is also one of their strengths. At the moment, the design consultancy and textiles business still accounts for around 40 per cent of their £2m annual turnover and almost all of their profits. Ready-to-wear clothing on its own breaks even, creating about £500,000 of sales, with shoes sold through a licensee adding another £250,000.

There is also a very small but growing business the pair are building by applying their talents in print to furnishings, interiors and even exterior materials, from concrete to plastic.

Meanwhile they are still developing fashion, with menswear set to be launched in the shops for next spring. Even a perfume is planned, but all, of course, in good time.