City lawyer turned fashion designer swaps billables for bags

Avatar photo

By Thomas Connelly on

3

Ex-Taylor Wessing associate Saher Bhatti now runs successful vegan handbag brand

Saher Bhatti
Ex-lawyer and Lawful London founder Saher Bhatti (Credit: Saher Bhatti)

A former City lawyer has reflected on her journey from commercial law specialist to fashion entrepreneur with the launch of her successful handbag business.

Saher Bhatti is the founder of Lawful London, a company specialising in cruelty-free, eco-friendly vegan leather handbags.

Bhatti, who trained and worked for Taylor Wessing according to her LinkedIn, developed an interest in sustainable fashion while working with clients in the global fashion and luxury brands sectors.

“I left my firm and worked part-time doing legal consultancy,” Bhatti explains in a recent interview with business magazine Forbes. “I took a huge pay cut but I made this decision to free up my time to set up the business.”

She worked part-time and eventually saved nearly £30,000 to cover the initial start-up costs, including designs, sampling, marketing shoots, website, and the first bulk order.

Founded just before the Covid pandemic, Bhatti shaped her vision for Lawful London by working with a top UK designer who had previously collaborated with the likes of Ralph Lauren and Ted Baker.

The bags themselves seem to be designed with the busy lawyer in mind, featuring storage for laptops, chargers, makeup, wallets, and even a change of shoes or clothes.

The 2024 Legal Cheek Firms Most List

“The aim is to launch sustainable products (not seasonal products) which can be sold all year round,” she says. “We double down on what’s worked, for example launching more colours in our hero product, rather than focusing on constantly launching new designs when we don’t know how they will perform. We also now have five warehouses globally and sell to the UK, Europe, Far East, Middle East and US, so we can sell to customers across the globe at affordable shipping rates that don’t eat into our margins too heavily.”

The decision to swap billable targets for handbag design seems to be paying off for Bhatti, who qualified in 2017 and specialised in commercial and technology law. The article reveals that her brand achieved £1.1 million in sales last year with 60% profit margins and is projected to reach £2.9 million in revenue this year.

Bhatti studied economics and politics at the University of Birmingham before completing both a conversion course and the Legal Practice Course at BPP Law School.

3 Comments

Associate at proper big firm

Bravo!

Anonymous

Well done! To all the associate and senior associates who get happy about completing OTHER peoples’ deals! This is what it’s about. This is what everyone should be aiming for! Hats down to this ex lawyer!

Anonymous 2

Not everyone wants to be a Entrepreneur. But she has done well.

Join the conversation

Related Stories

Pupil barrister trials UK’s first vegan wig

Samuel March's hemp-based prototype draws praise from legal profession

Mar 1 2021 12:14pm

Meet the family lawyer turned fashion designer

Violetta Onishchenko swapped mediation for macramé, and tells Legal Cheek about leaving the law to pursue her dream

Jun 27 2023 9:13am
6

Coventry Uni law grad launches her own range of Nike trainers

Limited edition sneakers inspired by Jade Macpepple-Jaja's experience as a black woman in London

Jul 31 2020 9:10am