Power isn't usually a word associated with Mulberry. Since it was founded in 1971 by Roger Saul (working out of the old forge in his parents' garden in Somerset), it has been all about "Le Style Anglais," as Saul put it, "which was based on the English shooting, hunting, and fishing activities of the upper classes." Resolutely true to its roots, Mulberry still maintains a factory, the Rookery, in Somerset. But toff chic, of course, isn't just about tweedy practicality or the stiff upper lip: As Saul also noted, the English are well known for their sense of humor and appreciation of eccentricity. These things, along with a devotion to quality, stamp the brand as authentically British-and that is its unique selling point in the market, on which it is now a major player, being valued in 2011 at ￡1 billion.
2010 : January: The Alexa (named after television presenter Alexa Chung) introduced. It will be described in The Guardian as "a trophy, a portable statement of a desire to be considered fashionable, the leather expression of cool." April: Mulberry "is the sleeper success of the luxury goods sector, having quietly metamorphosed from a staid brand, adopted by the green welly brigade in the 1980s, into a sultry minx capable of conjuring up ‘it-bags' that ‘it-girls' . . . want to carry in the noughties," observes The Guardian. December: Mulberry takes home the Designer Brand prize at the British Fashion Awards.