Talking Passions: Robyn Lythe, Burnt Soul

This week’s interviewee is the incredibly talented seamstress behind Burnt Soul Clothing, Robyn Lythe! From day one I’ve been in love with her dazzling creations and, other than delighting glittery festival and party goers from the UK to America and beyond, last year even saw her dressing two modern day divas in the form of Ella Eyre and Miley Cyrus. Needless to say she knows her way around a sewing machine, and I managed to catch up with her recently to talk about her passion for making women and men alike look fabulous…

Talking Passions (TP): “As a young Robyn what did you want to be when you grew up and how did you get to where you are now?”

Robyn Lythe (RL): “I’ve always wanted to make stuff and just be in the creative industry, and I started making clothes when I was about seven or eight. I think I got an old Singer pedal sewing machine from my next-door neighbour and my Mum used to just despair sometimes because she’d walk up the stairs and there would be bits of cloth everywhere, or I’d have cut up my dress and stuck on buttons everywhere and just completely ruined it.”

TP: “Ruined it or made it better?” (laughs)

RL: “Well, I thought I’d made it better, but obviously she didn’t think that the bridesmaid’s dress that I needed the next weekend (laughs) looked so good with a button in the middle. But never mind. After that I went through my GCSE’s and A-Levels doing Fashion and Textiles, and then went off to do my degree. Then I went to do some work experience and that was probably the best thing for me to get the knowledge that I needed to get where I am today. After that I started my own business making wedding dresses and that was interesting (laughs) and while I was doing the bespoke wedding dresses I was asked to do a few pieces for festivals and just really fell in love with it and went from there.”

TP: “So Burnt Soul as a concept and a brand speaks fun. Could you tell me about some of your influences in fashion?”

RL: “I draw my influences from everywhere, there’s not a specific thing. I would say it’s more the shape that I’m interested in, the shape of the body, and I love creating visually beautiful pieces, and I love to make women feel sexy even if they’re not the standard stick-thin shape. I’m a curvy girl and I like to put something on and just feel amazing in it, so I just took inspiration from the eras of pattern cutting, making the body look aesthetically amazing, and used that in my designs.”

TP: “Well I think it works really well and everyone looks and feels fabulous when they’re in them. (I speak from experience because I actually own a pair of Burnt Soul ‘Meggings’.) I also know that recently you’ve made amazing outfits for Miley Cyrus and Ella Eyre. Can you tell me how it feels to have their support and how it all came about?”

RL: “Oh my gosh, I still don’t quite believe the whole Miley thing happened! It all happened very suddenly. We were contacted on both occasions by the stylist teams, which was amazing as we didn’t have to reach out ourselves. With Ella, she found us online and wanted us to create some pieces for her. Obviously we said yes because she was, like, the one person that we wanted to dress anyway. So yeah, it was just, to get that straight away at the beginning of the year was just my year made up. (smiles) With Miley… we did something for ‘Marina and The Diamonds’ as well towards the end of the year (2014), and the stylist saw it on Instagram, I think, and then just chased it up with us. He sent us an email saying, ‘We’ve got this tour going on with Miley, would you be up for making a catsuit?’ and we were obviously like, ‘Yes!’ And then we found out what it was we had to make and I was in a little bit of despair, because she wanted a full catsuit covered in mirror tiles which I knew would just take so so long, and I knew it was just gonna be an epic project and she wanted it in a week.”

TP: “Lots of late nights.”

RL: “I got everyone I knew over. I bought prosecco, I bought coffee, I bought food for them all and we just sat and stuck stuff on for hours and hours. I think I had like two hours sleep for a couple of days.” (laughs)

TP: “But the end result was amazing. I’ve seen the pictures. (smiles) Like you were just saying, I know that each piece is hand made with love and care. How do you balance the creative side with the management side of Burnt Soul?”

RL: “It’s very hard, especially the busier we get. We’ve got two ladies in Exeter now, and they make stuff for me. They do the bulk of it and I can concentrate on more of the bespoke pieces and the day-to-day running of the business. As we get busier we just need to get more help in, and it’s nice that I’ve got people that will do it in the right way, and do it in the way that I want it to be done. And I’ve always got a very close eye on the end result because I know exactly what I want. That way I can get on with the day-to-day because social media alone takes up a strong percentage of it, which is very frustrating. But yes, there’s lots to do.” (smiles)

TP: “It’s great that you’ve found some people who love it as much as you do. Can you tell me about any hurdles you’ve had to overcome?”

RL: “I think when you start a business there’re just so many different aspects that you have to take on board and learn, things that you might not be used to. For instance, I’m a very creative person and I love making things, but give me a set of accounts to do and my mind just goes, ‘Oh no.’ I think that’s been the hardest thing, to try and not just be a fashion designer, but to also be a business woman. I think my biggest hurdle to date has been to learn to let other people do things if I’m not sure myself. I do like doing everything myself but sometimes it’s just not worthwhile, so learning to rely on other people is a big thing for me.”

TP: “That’s totally understandable when it’s your baby. (smiles) Finally, where do you see Burnt Soul heading this year?”

RL: “Well we’ve got loads and loads coming out this year. We’ve got a sports range coming out, I really wanna do a kids range, swimsuit range, and then we want to start wholesaling as well so that’s gonna mean looking for production elsewhere, which I’m in the process of doing. it’s exciting times at the moment.” (smiles)

TP: “In terms of production elsewhere, I know that you’re very eco-friendly. How’s that going to work?”

RL: “Yes, and that’s one of the main things I want to keep. I don’t want to go mass-producing in China where the working conditions are shocking. I’m very aware of keeping this very ethical and in keeping with my values. I’ve recently been to Sri-Lanka and checked out some factories there which are quite cool so we shall see.” (laughs)

If you’d like to get hold of Robyn or the Burnt Soul Team you can contact them via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or through the website at www.burntsoul.com 

Words: Talking Passions.

Photos: Burnt Soul.

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