I'm excited to announce that this summer, on Wednesday, August 7, Dreweatts Auctioneers will be holding an auction titled "Roger Saul: The Personal Mulberry Archive," showcasing my private collection as the founder of Mulberry. This auction spans over 50 years of design history from this quintessential British fashion brand and includes handbags, fashion, shoes, luggage, and accessories. It also features home items like fabric, furniture, ceramics, glass, lighting, rugs, and some of my favourite pieces that have inspired me.
The archive boasts early and never-before-seen design samples, personal memorabilia, and iconic classics across all Mulberry ranges. I founded Mulberry in 1971 at my kitchen table in Somerset with just £500 from my mother. The famous Mulberry logo, designed by my sister, was inspired by a mulberry tree I passed on my way to school. The name evoked everything English, yet the logo was avant-garde, a balance I strived to maintain as the company grew rapidly.
I initially designed buckled leather belts but soon expanded to handbags and womenswear, including the 'Le Style Anglais' Collection, which focused on English rural pursuits like hunting, shooting, and fishing, seamlessly blending town and country. In 1990, I launched the Mulberry All-Weather Collection, using high-performance tech and natural fabrics, followed by the Mulberry Sporting Pursuits Collection, inspired by car racing, sailing, skiing, and tennis. I also ventured into the lifestyle market with the Mulberry at Home Collection, offering everything from fabric to furniture, china to glassware, and lighting to tableware.
This sale celebrates my 42 years at Mulberry, during which I created, built, and evolved the label into one of the UK's and the world's most popular brands, known for its exquisite leather goods and timeless designs that blend traditional craftsmanship with contemporary innovation.
One of the sale's highlights is a Mulberry chestnut girthgrain leather holdall I designed in 1975. In 2001, Luella Bartley, a young fashion designer, approached Mulberry to create a bag in her name. I showed her this bag from my archive, and she loved it. At her 2001 New York fashion show, model Gisele Bündchen carried it on the runway and claimed it as her own, thus starting the 'IT' bag trend of the early 2000s.
The auction also includes items reminiscent of those purchased and worn by the late Diana, Princess of Wales, such as a Mulberry waxed cotton leather drover coat and a pleated silk floral skirt. Other highlights include Mulberry leather belts, a Mulberry Home walnut and paisley upholstered armchair designed in the Victorian style, iconic tweed waistcoats, a Mulberry ski wear range, leather travel cases, and Kate Winslet’s Mulberry check boucle wool jacket from a Mulberry photoshoot.
Join us for the auction on Wednesday, August 7, at 10:30 am BST at Donnington Priory, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2JE. Sign up for email alerts and stay updated on this exciting event!
