There was a time when Clare Haggas didn’t think she’d survive the day let alone be running such a successful silk scarf business.
But her achievements are as much about Clare’s adversity, her fight through alcoholism and coping with the recent death of her husband, as the incredible business empire she has built up; her silk scarves, art and accessories hugely in demand, each new design selling out time and time again.
Clare herself is a wonderfully cheerful, passionate, focused and humble individual, keen to share her story which is so intrinsic to her success.
Because when the crowds gather at her stand at The Game Fair at Blenheim Palace next weekend READ OUR GUIDE TO THE GAME FAIR HERE, which she is manning herself, complete with limited edition scarves and original art, she wants to let her fans know how much their support has meant to her over the years.
‘It was the girls at The Game Fair who bought my pieces and I will be forever grateful. They are my people and I can’t wait to meet them’
“The Game Fair community is where it all started. They were the ones who bought and wore my pieces, so I’m so excited to be returning this year to join in, meet them and enjoy the wonderful atmosphere,” Clare explains.
That Clare Haggas is such a thriving company is all down to her, but her journey has been far from easy. Having left university for a job in London in magazine publishing back in the 90s she loved the constant socialising and entertaining her job entailed, until it got the better of her.
“I would go out for lunch and come back into the office the next day at 3pm. But because I’d done the deal it was OK. I thought I was having a great time and being paid to take people out and have fun, but then the wheels fell off and the drugs and alcohol started controlling me,” she remember.
‘I had finally learned to believe in myself and my abilities, and to get rid of all the shame and guilt that comes with addiction’
Soon relying on the drink and drugs she took to get through the day, what started off as fun soon descended into a nightmare, and Clare had to go into rehab in South Africa in 2012. Part of the treatment there was art therapy, so Clare started painting again, concentrating on the wildlife around her for inspiration.
On returning home clean, she continued with her painting, demonstrating her endeavours on social media and was as amazed as anyone when people started buying her art, often before it was finished. “I had finally learned to believe in myself and my abilities, and to get rid of all the shame and guilt that comes with addiction, so I will always remember selling my first pheasant painting,” she smiles,
Clare’s next plan was to get her designs printed on silk, but she had no idea where to start or how to take the next step until she met a man at a recovery meeting who turned out to run a silk printing company.
“I had been looking for a scarf to wear and couldn’t find anything I liked, so quickly realised there was a gap in the market,” she remembers.
‘the new series has brought me real solace and given me purpose, because being a widow in your 50s is difficult’
The rest is history, and six months later Clare launched her Turf collection, which is still relaunched in a new colour every year, and Clare Haggas took off. Now with a million plus annual turnover and a huge fan base, her designs are highly sought after and the brand has become iconic in its own right.
“I have often been described as a home-grown Hermes,” she says proudly, “And it has gone from strength to strength because it’s high end niche, and I want to keep it like that.”
But while Clare is hugely proud of her achievements and her company’s reputation, she is also very mindful of the people who got her there and her incredible team, as well as how far she’s come. “I think having a commercial background has helped hugely, because many artists don’t have that extra skillset and experience, but as the business grew so did my confidence.
‘I have very strong boundaries. I know my limits. Because if I have another drink I’ll die. so staying sober and humble is what grounds me’
“My USP is that I make and design all the artwork myself and we don’t cut corners. We make everything at the studios in the Cotswolds, but staying sober and humble is what grounds me.
“So I have very strong boundaries. I know my limits. Because if I have another drink I’ll die. I won’t risk my sobriety and know my trigger points, so if I’m tired I sleep, and if I need a break I rest. And I look after my people. There is no hierarchy at work.”
Hugely excited about coming to Blenheim’s Game Fair and manning the stand herself for the first time, Clare Haggas is bringing a series of new original art work exclusively to Blenheim, as yet unavailable because it always sells so quickly, as well as some limited edition scarves and a new line in kimonos.
‘if it wasn’t for my business I don’t think I’d have survived financially or emotionally’
Clare painted the new art work after her beloved husband died recently, as a way though her grief, and says the five original pieces is some of her best work to date and reflective of her marriage.
“I have a new piece called Soul Mates of swallows and Caledonia is of red stag, because Will and I would always go shooting and fishing in Scotland, and the new series has brought me real solace and given me purpose, because being a widow in your 50s is difficult, and if it wasn’t for my business I don’t think I’d have survived financially or emotionally.
“So I see The Game Fair as the launch of a new chapter in my life and I’m really excited to be going along because it’s huge! 120,000 people will be there and I feel very at ease in that world. It’s part of me and it’s a huge honour to be there.
‘it’s so amazing to see people walking around wearing my scarves. It always makes me blub’
“But I still have to pinch myself because I was such a hopeless case and didn’t think I’d make it, and now it’s so amazing to see people walking around wearing my scarves. It always makes me blub.
“And yet there is still so much stigma attached to addiction and I hope by talking about my own experiences it might bring it all out into the open.
“Because my art has helped me so much. I don’t know what I would have done without it,” she admits. “I absolutely love my job and my work and I’m very proud of how far Clare Haggas has come.
“Because while my parents never frowned upon my artwork when I was growing up, it was not encouraged as a career. So it is ironic that it was the career that brought about my initial downfall and that art that has been my salvation,” she smiles.
‘there is still so much stigma attached to addiction and I hope by talking about my own experiences it might bring it all out into the open’
Clare’s subject matter remains the animals and seasonal countryside around her. Having met her husband Will a year after she was released from rehab, she moved to his farm in Lincolnshire and painted the deer, hares and pheasants she could see from their garden.
“I painted what was around me – British wildlife – but it was the girls at The Game Fair who bought my work, my art and my scarves and I will be forever grateful. They are my people and I can’t wait to meet them next weekend because they were the ones who gave me back my confidence,” she says.
The Game Fair runs at Blenheim Palace from July 26-28. Buy tickets here: https://thegamefairtickets.org
