the wellington college year book 2010/2011
113
l i ly & a l b e r t
k at h ry n m c c o r m i c k [ a p 2 0 0 2 – 2 0 0 4 ]
y experience at Wellington
College left me with selfconfidence and the feeling
that anything was possible if
you worked hard. I cannot
remember ever being told that an idea was
‘unrealistic’ or ‘too challenging’ (for my final
a level piece I danced on a canvas ‘Jackson
Pollock’ style?
!). We were encouraged to
trust our instincts and prove that our theories
could work. This environment inspired me
to focus on my talents and grab hold of the
opportunities at hand.
In September 2009, I launched the online
knitwear company ‘Lily & Albert’. The idea
for the unisex brand developed after I saw
fishermen’s wives knitting cardigans for their
husbands on a beach in Portugal. Captivated
by the expertise involved in this age-old
tradition and struck by the quality produced,
I bought my first fisherman’s cardigan from
these artisans. At University it became my
most borrowed item, which solidified my
belief that there was a market for this original
craftsmanship in modern fashion. So, armed
with savings from my gap year work and a
loan from my parents to buy some stock, I
set up a photo shoot, learnt how to create an
e-commerce site and launched the online shop.
Since then Lily & Albert has gone from
strength to strength. We have been featured
in magazines such as Tatler and on the
bbc, worked with Green lifestyle organization
Global Cool and Radio One dj Gemma
Cairney, as well as opening the Fuze fashion
show in 2009 and 2010 alongside Jack Wills
and Reiss.
I often revisit Wellington and in fact one of
our recent Lily and Albert photo shoots took
place in the ccf Armoury. The photographer
was Hannah McCabe [Ap 2003–2005]. So as
you can see seven years on the Wellington
support network continues?!