Founder of Lawful London

Born and raised in Birmingham, Saher Bhatti studied Economics and Politics at University of Birmingham and left Birmingham aged 22 to attend law school and trained as a lawyer in London.

Saher’s love for minimalist, timeless accessories led her to recognise the lack of contemporary, cruelty-free, practical bags for women that were suitably versatile for commuting, work and weekend needs.

Lawful London was born out of her desire to create a brand that aimed to make better bags in a better way, by producing affordable products that were ethical, functional and timeless.

CP magazine sits with Saher this month for this exclusive interview to know more about her brand and plans for expansion.

Please introduce yourself.
I am Saher Bhatti, an ex-city lawyer born and raised in UK. I have recently set up my first business venture, the contemporary, minimalist women’s accessories brand Lawful London which is now available globally including in UK, Europe, Middle East and USA.

Tell us about your education.
The majority of my school life was spent in Birmingham, UK at an all-girls grammar school where I completed my GCSEs and A-Levels. I then attended University of Birmingham and studied Economics and Politics as an undergraduate. After graduating with a first-class honours in my undergraduate degree, I then spent two years at law school in London ahead of training as a solicitor.

What or who inspired you to learn law?
I have always been interested in a career in law and since my early teens, I attended events run by local law firms which were aimed at young students who were potentially interested in exploring law as a career. The events ranged from spending a day at a law firm (‘a day in the life of a lawyer’ style event) to a full week work experience with different firms. This gave me a good idea of the range of work and clients which I would potentially be involved with and the culture of different types of firms. This experience at a young age inspired me to pursue law as a career.

 

How did the idea of launching your own handbags come up?
The idea arose when I was working in London and commuting, whilst carrying my laptop, folders, shoes and more! I struggled to find a minimalist, functional work bag that was thoughtfully designed and available at an affordable price point. I either discovered bags which were fashionable but lacked functionality or if they were functional, they were either in the form of a clunky backpack or highly overpriced – this led me to explore the idea of creating an accessories brand which was fashionable, functional, ethically produced and affordable!

Did you work with any designers to convert your ideas to proper designs?
Yes, I worked with an experienced designer who has previously worked with leading brands such as House of Fraser and Ted Baker.

When did you officially launch and how did you select the name for your brand?
Lawful London was officially launched in September 2019. The name of the brand links to the lawful, ethical nature of the products with all pieces being made from cruelty-free fabrics (vegan leather). It also relates to my past as a London lawyer which is where the idea transpired.

 

What materials do you use for your handbags?
The Classic Collection is made from Polyurethane. The new range ‘The Three Collection,’ which is due to be launched in June 2022 is made from microfibre.

How did the creative process evolve since you started the brand?
The creative process has evolved incrementally since the brand was born. It’s important for us to see what has worked well and why whilst also identifying what hasn’t worked so well (with respect to product and marketing) and amend this moving forward. We’re also adapting the image of the brand now we know who exactly our customer is (her age, demographic, hobbies etc.), to ensure the brand, marketing and content consistently resonates with her. This also impacts our choice of models for campaigns and the content creators that we choose to work with for social media purposes.

Who is your main target for your brand?
Lawful London’s main target are females, aged 24-35. They are likely to be university students, graduates, working women and in some cases working mothers.

 

Describe your first collection – The Classic Collection.
The Classic Collection offers a range of timeless designs, with all pieces having a minimal, non-seasonal aesthetic. The Dahlia backpack, Sienna tote and Aspen tote are all equipped with full internal functionality in the form of a padded laptop compartment, wide slip pockets for documents and notepads, bottle holders, card holders and zip compartments for additional security. All pieces in the Classic Collection are designed for women who want a practical, timeless durable accessory that’s versatile for both their work and weekend wardrobes.

How was it like being pregnant during the pandemic? What difficulties did you face?
Being pregnant during the pandemic was a very surreal experience. As it was my first pregnancy, I didn’t have anything to compare it to, but it did feel very lonely at times. Fortunately, I had a fairly smooth pregnancy so I didn’t really face any major difficulties until after I had my baby, however raising a newborn during a lockdown is so challenging! As a new mother, you’re going through such a transitional point in your life (mentally, physically, hormonally!) that a bit of normality is necessary – whether that be going for a coffee with a friend or popping to your local mall with your baby, it’s so essential to maintain a balance and actually not having the ability to do that, amplified the difficulties of being in a lockdown for me as a new parent, which at times made me feel isolated and claustrophobic.

 

How are you managing your time now being a mother and an entrepreneur?
I’m still trying to master the art of juggling, but I’ve learnt that multi-tasking is key for any working mum. I try to fit work in as and when I can (when my baby naps) or often during the evenings after bath and bedtime! I focus on maximising my work time when my baby is in nursery to ensure that they’re the most productive days of the week and all the important bits are dealt with then whilst I have a clear(er) mind.

What challenges and problems did you face for your business during the pandemic and how did you manage to expand in the UAE?
The main challenge was receiving shipments on time. Stock was delayed for weeks, sometimes months or incredibly expensive due to hiked shipping costs from the backlog caused by the start of the pandemic/global lockdowns.

However, the pandemic generally seemed to provide a lot of opportunities for my brand (which may be the case for many e-commerce brands) as online traffic massively increased due to malls and stores being closed. As an exclusively online brand, the website saw an increase in visits and therefore conversions, so in terms of revenue and acquiring new customers, the pandemic was actually a thriving time for us.

The decision to expand to the UAE was taken in November 2021 when the pandemic chaos had largely calmed down – manufacturing was back to normal, albeit more expensive, and shipping times were back to pre-pandemic days so it felt like the perfect time to expand into a new region where stock could be delivered and fulfilled relatively quickly and efficiently without disruption.

 

What are the most important lessons you learnt during your journey from lawyer to an entrepreneur?
The two most important lessons I learnt during the transitional journey from lawyer to entrepreneur were:

1.Stay focussed: It’s hard going from a structured job to an unstructured, creative setting where you’re working for yourself and setting your own deadlines. Find a way to stay organised from the beginning so you build some sort of structure for your days to maximise productivity and also hold yourself accountable.

2.Trust in your vision: It’s hard leaving something you know and going into the unknown but always remain focussed on your wider vision and outcome and trust your instinct. It’s very easy to get derailed by comments and feedback from others particularly when you’re at the start of your business venture so sometimes keeping your business or idea private while you work on it silently may help keep you focussed on your vision.

What other markets are you planning to expand to?
Far East and USA – whilst we currently ship to USA, we do not have local fulfilment providers which we will be looking to set up in the next 12 months to service this region more efficiently.

 

What are you currently working on?
I’m currently working on the launch of the new range, ‘The Three Collection’. There’s so much to do ahead of the launch in June 2022, including launching the new marketing campaign, creating fresh social media content, refreshing the website for the new collection, and planning a launch event for the new collection in UAE for all our incredible and supportive customers in the region!

What are some of your other hobbies?
Fitness, cooking, reading (I love ‘Shoe Dog’ by Phil Knight and ‘Build Something That Matters’ by Blake Mycoskie).

How did you manage to scale Lawful London to a 6-figure business?
I have taken very calculated and conservative decisions which involved only spending on things the business either really needed or that I saw the value in for my brand during its infancy. I also continually evaluated what was working well and not so well for the brand to avoid being wasteful. In doing so, I kept the product line and marketing approach very lean until I could see substantial market validation in the form of conversions to justify either larger stock purchases, a new collection, greater marketing spend or expansion into other geos etc. Ultimately, keeping the product range, operations and marketing approach as lean as possible to focus only what’s delivering for the business and doubling down on this, allowed us to scale to six figure revenue without external investment in a relatively short period of time from just a single small collection of products.

How can our readers and women from Kuwait buy your handbags?
All products are available to purchase from our Middle East website which also offers free shipping to Kuwait: lawfullondon.ae

Your message for us at CP magazine.
There’s no such thing as rejection, just re-direction.

Thank you CP Magazine for featuring my brand and letting me share my journey.