Dawn Collinson discovers how Benna Harry’s eye for a hot trend is attracting her fans online

BENNA Harry has an impressive track record for being ahead of the fashion game.

At 17 she was making jewellery to sell to independent shops in Liverpool; there was boutique lingerie before Kylie et al, and tracksuits before Juicy.

Now she is using her eye for trend prediction and hot designers to attract style savvy customers to her website, Benna.co.uk.

The site sells an eclectic range of jewellery and accessories from hand-picked creatives on both sides of the Atlantic.

Benna, originally from Woolton but now living in the city centre, says she’s catering for modern women who like to combine vintage with designer.

But there are plenty of celebrities who love her choices too. One of her designers – and a friend – Annina Vogel is a favourite of Kate Moss, while Alex Curran and Coleen Rooney have both bought pieces from the site.

Benna.co.uk is actually the latest of several fashion directions which the 38-year-old has taken since leaving St Julie’s and heading to Manchester University to study jewellery design.

As a teenager, she first became interested in making accessories for herself. “But to make handbags, you really need to be able to sew which I can’t, so I did jewellery instead,” she recalls. “I’d wear it when I went out to clubs and people would say ‘that’s nice, where did you get it?’ so I realised there was a market.

“There was a place called More Cherubs in Cavern Walks which stocked my stuff and I sold to a shop in London called Sign of the Times. Then, when I went to Manchester, I started to get things cast in silver and sold them to Smith and Westwood in Clayton Square.”

Completing her degree, she went on to the world famous St Martin’s College in London but became disenchanted with the business after graduating.

“At St Martin’s it was a lot more mechanical rather than hands-on creative, which totally put me off,” says Benna. “I just like to take my inspiration from here and there, to buy little bits of vintage, and my brain doesn’t work very spatially so I found it hard to think that way.”