Women in Business

London Evening Standard

The London Business School is backing moves to bring more women into boardrooms with a new MBA target.

Cheryl Mainland and Polly McMaster both graduated with distinction from the school’s MBA programme this summer. They are now looking for angel and seed venture capital backers for their line of clothing, which is sold in London and will soon be launched in New York. Called The Fold, it is aimed at stylishly attiring professional women in clothes that suit both the office and the wine bar. The pieces in the collection, which typically cost around £250, are designed and produced in London and New York.

“Women in the City want to be fashionable,” says McMaster. “If their male counterparts are wearing a suit from Savile Row then the women should be on an equal par.”

Women in the City want to be fashionable!

Mainland adds: “We saw a gap in the market with women’s work wear and took the opportunity of being in business school to create a successful venture. Currently, there is limited inspiration or creative design in women’s work wear. We want them to love their work clothes as much as they love their favourite cocktail dress.”

We want women to love their work clothes as much as they love their favourite cocktail dress!

The pair met as students at the school and set up the business with the support of the entrepreneurship faculty.

“The support and mentorship we have received through London Business School has been fantastic,” says Mainland. “The entrepreneurship faculty helped us create a strong business model and build our network amongst customers and the industry.

“The Entrepreneurship Summer School in particular was a great environment to test ideas and launch a venture with a strong commercial foundation.”

Sarah Richardson

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