White Ginger opens in High Street St Martins, Stamford

A woman with a passion for fashion has opened a new clothing store.

Emma Femminile, owner of White Ginger, is set to use her social network and design skills to launch a successful second store in Stamford.

Emma, lives in a village outside Stamford, said: “I started it when I moved to Asia looking for summer clothes but they were all high end or super cheap. There wasn’t anything in the middle.

“So I began to design a small collection of what I would like to wear and started to sell them at home to my friends but it grew and grew.”

In 2012 she launched White Ginger with a pop-up stall in Singapore before moving into a store. Since moving back to England Emma, a former Stamford High School pupil, decided she would set up a second shop in High Street St Martin’s.

The former interior designer said: “I didn’t want to be on the High Street because you get a high foot fall so can’t give customers that time.

“A lot of women like to get help with styling so it’s nice to not be in a busy location.

“It is great to be by the traffic lights because everyone stops for a look.”

She added: “I have a lot of friends in Stamford and my children were all at school here so it made sense.

“Everyone is so supportive.”

Each piece of clothing is designed by Emma and handmade in Bali.

She said: “I imagine in Stamford I will have quite regular customers who want something new.

“I only do a few of each design then change them which makes it quite exclusive.”

To help people to continue to look stylish even with coronavirus regulations, Emma has created facemasks to match the clothing available at her store.

However, having a business during the coronavirus pandemic has not been an easy task for Emma who has two step-daughters and two sons.

Emma said: ““Lockdown was interesting. It was quite hard to work with the constant emptying of the dishwasher, but now all the children are away from home again so my attention can return to work.”

She added that during lockdown she was forced to shift her focus to the website.

Emma is also set to hold personal shopping appointments at the Stamford store for anyone who is nervous to come out because of covid or for people who just want an extra bit of fashion advice.

White Ginger opened today (Friday 18) which is also Emma’s 50th birthday and stocks clothing, homeware and accessories.

“I’m very excited and have had lots of positive comments,” she said.

“I think definitely my target customer is myself - someone who likes affordable clothes but seeks out something different.”