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Using borrowed money, I started a £250 million side business aged 17 – I sell a dress every 30 seconds and even Beyoncé wears my dresses

Posted on by Lucas
Using borrowed money, I started a £250 million side business aged 17 – I sell a dress every 30 seconds and even Beyoncé wears my dresses

Equipped with her book bag and a love of clothes, five-year-old Conna Walker didn’t mind helping out on her parents’ second-hand market stalls in East London after long days at school.

She was still young, but she was learning how to negotiate and how to run a business. This experience helped her become the owner of a fashion label worth £250 million.

Fashion entrepreneur Conna Walker founded House of CB when she was just 17 years old

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Fashion entrepreneur Conna Walker founded House of CB when she was just 17 years oldPhoto credit: Instagram
Her brand generated sales of £250 million last year and is loved by Hollywood's elite

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Her brand generated sales of £250 million last year and is loved by Hollywood’s elitePhoto credit: Instagram/Connawalker
House of CB's celebrity clients include the Kardashian sisters Beyoncé and J-Lo

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House of CB’s celebrity clients include the Kardashian sisters Beyoncé and J-LoPhoto credit: Getty

The 32-year-old is the founder and CEO of the world-famous fashion brand House of CB (short for House of Celeb Boutique).

The label, which originally started out as Conna and sold clothes on eBay, had sales of £250 million last year and has a celebrity-worthy five million Instagram followers.

In 2010, at the age of 17, Conna borrowed £3,000 from her parents and began selling ready-to-wear clothes she had bought at clothing markets in China.

She traveled there with her parents, who were buying furniture for their business, and brought with her a suitcase full of clothes to sell on eBay.

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She continued this for about a year before deciding to design her own clothes (which were also made in China) and set up her own website.

The entrepreneur, from Chigwell, Essex, taught herself basic coding so she could log images on her website.

“I just learned through trial and error,” she revealed on Exhibit A, a podcast hosted by Abbey Clancy.

“I didn’t try to become really big right away.

“I decided I didn’t want to go to university and continue with House of CB.”

She packed orders at her parents’ house and dropped them off herself at the local post office.

Conna began packing orders at her parents' house and placing them herself at the local post office

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Conna began packing orders at her parents’ house and placing them herself at the local post officePhoto credit: Instagram

After two years, the company had grown and opened a distribution warehouse.

This meant that Conna could only sell clothes she designed herself, rather than buying them wholesale in China.

And since all the designs turned out original, it’s likely that your favorite star has worn House of CB.

His top clients include the Kardashian sisters J-Lo, Beyoncé and Gigi Hadid.

DID HOUSE OF CB OH SUE POLLY?

House of CB is no stranger to a lawsuit. In fact, Conna Walker and her team took on fast fashion giant Oh Polly in 2021…

House of CB was awarded £450,000 in damages after a judge ruled in its favor in a design rights dispute involving two of its dresses.

Legal action was taken against Oh Polly for selling figure-hugging and bandage styles that were “scented” rip-offs of House of CB.

Supreme Court Associate Justice David Stone compared 20 drafts of House of CB to 20 drafts of Oh Polly.

He ultimately concluded that seven of the Oh Polly pieces infringed House of CB’s unregistered design rights, stating that some of the designs had been copied essentially in their entirety.

ACROSS THE POND

Conna managed to build her celebrity clientele by essentially following them around Los Angeles, USA.

She would fly across the pond with a suitcase full of House of CB clothing and DM stars on Instagram to offer them a free outfit.

Otherwise, she would show up at exclusive hotels in the City of Angels to catch celebrities in the lobby and hand them the clothes directly.

“It all happened quite turbulently,” she recalled of 2015.

I paid security to send them some clothes – and they took them and wore them

Conna WalkerAppendix A

“I was staying at the W Hotel at the time and there were some (famous) women living there or visiting or whatever.

“I paid security to send them up some clothes – and they took them and wore them.”

There was a week around this time where Beyoncé wore House of CB dresses for a week, which Conna didn’t know until she saw the pictures online.

“We’ve had Rihanna before, and this year Taylor S wore a few things too,” the founder added.

QUALITY IS EVERYTHING

Quality comes first at House of CB. Conna’s products are known worldwide for fitting like a glove and creating flawless hourglass figures without any tailoring.

This led to sales of £200 million last year, which the founder says is equivalent to selling a dress every 30 seconds.

“We have always made products that you cannot find elsewhere,” Conna added.

By the early 2010s, the brand’s signature bandage dresses and skirts were on most young women’s Christmas lists. This material is still a basic component of its products today.

House of CB products are praised worldwide for fitting like a glove

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House of CB products are praised worldwide for fitting like a glovePhoto credit: Instagram
Britain's biggest influencer Molly-Mae Hague is a well-known fan of the fashion label

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Britain’s biggest influencer Molly-Mae Hague is a well-known fan of the fashion labelPhoto credit: Getty

A mini bandage dress from the fashion house costs £169, while the new season’s tulle midi dresses cost £239.

In 2017, Conna began working as a sculptor making dresses with corsets, another motif that has remained strong to this day.

“It was not common for women to wear well-fitting, tailored clothing that accentuated the waist,” she explained.

“Celebrity stylists told us that they really enjoyed just putting on a dress and that, well, it doesn’t have to be tailored. That’s the feedback we had.”

“I keep going”

House of CB has now been in operation for almost 15 years.

Conna has opened a number of stores around the world including London’s Oxford Street, Westfield Stratford City and even the iconic Melrose Ave in West Hollywood, USA.

The fashion house has its own factory, which is decorated entirely in pink and is the size of three football fields.

Conna attributes her success in scaling House of CB to “constantly working at it.”

“That’s always been my main focus,” she said. “I’m constantly working on it.

“I’m lucky that I now have the freedom to do whatever I want, but the business still requires me to be present at all times.

“I still find it difficult to delegate, I’m still very involved.”

Conna oversees everything from concepts to product design to marketing strategy.