Shoe designer Jane Winkworth on selling products to Princess Diana and Kate Middleton

Publish date: 2024-01-30

Jane Winkworth, 70, founded ballet shoe brand French Sole in 1989. She now has 400 stores and counts royalty and celebrities among her customers. Jane is married and has three grown-up children, Rebecca, Matthew and Ben.

Like most little girls, I was obsessed with ballet. But my affinity for dance continued into adulthood — I always loved to wear ballet flats and would seek them out wherever I could.

I grew up in Weybridge, Surrey and moved to London for art school. But I dropped out after two terms and worked for fashion designer Barbara Hulanicki at her iconic store Biba.

Jane Winkworth, 70, founded ballet shoe brand French Sole in 1989. She now has 400 stores and counts royalty and celebrities among her customers

Jane Winkworth, 70, founded ballet shoe brand French Sole in 1989. She now has 400 stores and counts royalty and celebrities among her customers

I met my first husband shortly afterwards. We married in 1967 and had a child, Rebecca. Sadly, our relationship broke down and later I met my second husband, John. We married in 1978 and went on to have our sons, Ben and Matthew.

In 1988, John and I were on holiday in Spain when we found a shop that sold only ballet shoes. It was my idea of heaven, but it was going out of business. On impulse I bought the lot, brought them home and took some of them to an NSPCC fair — they sold out by lunchtime.

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I started selling them at fairs all over the place and they always sold like hot cakes.

Then, in 1993, I took a stall at the Harbour Club in London. Princess Diana — who was a member — bought lots. That’s when I realised I was definitely on to something.

Diana was a customer for years afterwards, by default becoming French Sole’s greatest advocate.

Diana was a customer for years afterwards, by default becoming French Sole’s greatest advocate

When my stock ran out, I found a small French firm that agreed to make ballet flats for me. The business started as a mail-order-only store, but I later took over a friend’s lease on a small shop to test the waters.

On the day we opened, I was astonished to see people queuing to get in. French Sole had truly arrived.

Since then, my shop has seen many famous faces, including Kate Moss and Kate Middleton — but I can’t pretend it’s been easy. Like any business, we’ve had our ups and downs.

I plan to retire next year and my son will take over. My children are committed to keeping French Sole in the family, which makes me very proud.

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