A FORMER solicitor has stepped away from the bar and moved onto the rails as she has taken on a kids' clothing company.

Nathalie Paterson, who used to specialise in media law in London, has just taken on a Hampshire firm, which sells second hand children's clothes, and is running the business from the spare room of her home in Easton.

Mrs Paterson, 32, decided to take on the business after moving from the big smoke to the village earlier this year and realising that there were few places for parents to buy affordable clothes for their children.

A mother of two, Mrs Paterson said that she previously bought her children's clothes from a similar business in the capital, but when she moved to Hampshire she realised that there were few places to do the same.

She heard of a company called Smarties, which buys second hand children's clothes and sells them on, and decided to buy it when it came up for sale.

Mrs Paterson, who moved to Easton in February, said: "Children grow out of things very quickly so clothes have got such a short shelf life and it gets very expensive. By recycling clothes I'm able to sell them at a third of their original price or less, which can save a lot of money when you add it up."

She runs the business from her spare bedroom and has rails full of second hand clothes for children aged up to 10 filling the room.

She added: "Some of the clothes have started to take over the living room too which I think has perturbed my husband a bit but he doesn't mind!"

Mrs Paterson said there was no shame in buying second hand children's clothes and added that one of the benefits was that the company had clothes from brands that were not available in shops in Winchester, such as H&M and Gap.

She buys some of her own children's clothes through Smarties and added that the second hand system was better for the environment, as it was the only way to recycle clothes 100 per cent.

She started buying second hand clothes for her children in London when she discovered that it took about 2,700 litres of water to make one cotton T-shirt and the statistic made a deep impact.

She said: "I think the eco-side of it is really important, once you have children you just consume so much, there's toys, clothes and nappies and more. If you can recycle a little bit I think it helps and buying second hand clothes means you're recycling 100 per cent. I hope people come back to me with clothes they've bought from Smarties so they can be used again!"

As well as being an eco-friendly business, Mrs Paterson wanted to use the firm to make a difference to disadvantaged children and she donates a percentage of her profits to The Children's Society.

She said: "When I was in London I bought clothes from charity shops and I think it's nice to shop there because you're giving to charity. I didn't want people shopping at Smarties to feel like they were denying charity shops so I decided to donate five per cent of my gross profits to The Children's Society. I hope that if I start making more of a profit I can donate more."

Smarties is open on Mondays during term time but Mrs Paterson is also hoping to open up during the school holidays by appointment.

To make an appointment or for more information telephone 01962 779158 or e-mail smarties.kids@gmail.com.

5:24pm Tuesday 27th May 2008

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