At home with...Victoria Lloyd

Julian Hall visits fashion gem Lillidiva on Lavender Hill and discovers its creator, ex-Harrods buyer Victoria Lloyd, determined to create the perfect neighbourhood boutique

Above: Victoria Lloyd

How did you set up Lillidiva?
I trained at Wimbledon School of Art, and then did a BA in Fashion Design at Ravensbourne (College of Design and Communication). After graduation I got into buying through working for LK Bennett, before joining Harrods. I always had wanted to have my own shop after working for inspirational retailers like Lucille Lewin of Whistles and Linda Bennett, so after getting great experience at Harrods I felt ready to launch Lillidiva. The concept of the shop was inspired by all my favourite boutiques down in Soho, New York and Paris, where you can find these wonderfully creative stores with a fantastic mix of unusual designers.
How do you choose your stock?
I am constantly on the lookout for new things to improve on what we have. We’ve just picked up 'McQ', the new Alexander McQueen diffusion line, it has a younger look but still with some beautiful tailoring details and at much more accessible prices. 'See' by Chloe and Sportmax are also the diffusion lines of Chloe and Maxmara respectively and are incredibly popular. But then we mix them in with Manoush and Les Prairies de Paris, two quite small Parisian brands, to give it all a different look.
What's your unique selling point?
I think what makes us stand out is that we have a great mix of the best labels and pieces from designers that customers say that they don’t find elsewhere. We also have our own fragrances – Lilli and Diva - which were made for us by Spitalfields perfumer Angela Flanders, so there’s a lot more than meets the eye. I also make a point of only employing staff that have a strong fashion background. Both our Saturday girls are assistant stylists who work on Vogue, Harpers, Grazia etc so they are really good at advising customers how to put things together. The shop is quite a big airy space with high ceilings, a huge old French mirror and twinkly chandelier to give the air of an old French apartment.
What made you choose the location on Lavender Hill?
I chose Lavender Hill because even six years ago rents and premiums on Northcote Road were high and going to put too much pressure on a new business that I was funding myself. So when I found this old empty shop on Lavender Hill near to Antony Laban’s salon, I decided to make it work. Many of his clients are my clients and they go to him because he’s a great hairdresser. I’m a big believer that if you do something individual enough and offer a great product, people will always make the effort to come back to you.
What do you like about this corner of Battersea?
This area attracts a lot of creative types – in addition to Antony Laban, there’s Roman Ospina, while Edwina Ibbotson on Queenstown Road is one of the UK’s finest milliners and newly opened Olivier’s Lounge is a very chic shoe and accessories boutique owned by a very good friend of mine who I had been hassling for ages to open down here! For food Cinnamon Cay on Lavender Hill and Santa Maria Del Sur on Queenstown Road are my recommendations for a memorable dinner out, while Firezza pizzas are on my speed dial!
How has the area changed since you’ve been here?
In the last six years, I think people are a lot more intrigued by what's going on down this end of Lavender Hill, it’s become a new area for people to stop in rather than drive past, and this will only continue to evolve.
What’s the most noticeable change in fashion over the last six years? The whole denim business. My customers definitely have a lot more than one pair of jeans in their wardrobe! We now have three denim brands, James (voted ‘best fitting jeans’ in the US), Paige Premium Denim and new this season ‘Made In Heaven’, a revival of a British brand from the 70’s which is selling very well.
How would you describe your customers?
Fashion conscious mums! But also young working, unmarrieds who are renting locally, fashion designers, interior designers, city girls, country girls that used to live in Battersea and have now moved out of London and still come back to us to stock up. People that appreciate lovely things, I think.
What new developments are you hoping to make with your business?
The aims for the business are to carry on increasing it in the present site as it seems to reach new potential each year. I would like to open something else along Lavender Hill though – an extension of the Lillidiva empire would be good! The ideas are all there, it’s just finding the time!