Natalie Dennis, 47, founder of a rapidly growing luxury handbag brand, has shared her remarkable journey from struggling with severe dyslexia to designing for millionaires at Harrods. Unable to read the alphabet as a child, she left school with just one GCSE in art but went on to become a leading designer, turning down offers from Alexander McQueen, Mulberry, Burberry, and Gucci.
Reflecting on her early years in Bratton Fleming, Devon, Dennis recalled: 'It was in primary school when I started to realise I was different. I couldn't read the alphabet and I would get a ruler across my hand.' Despite limited support for dyslexia in rural areas, her creative flair emerged at age three, when she began making handbags for Barbie dolls from cardboard and fabric scraps.
After three years at North Devon College, Dennis earned a Higher National Diploma in fashion clothing at Maidenhead College, where she won a competition by designer Wayne Hemingway. He encouraged her to apply to Cordwainers, London's fashion school, where lecturer Darla Jane Gilroy helped secure her dyslexia diagnosis at 18. Dennis achieved a 2.1 degree using innovative revision techniques, such as recording lectures and listening to them overnight before exams.
Now selling her handbags to millionaire clients at Harrods, Dennis focuses on sustainability in her brand. She hopes today's children with dyslexia receive more support, noting that by university she had a scribe for exams, which 'helped immensely.' Her story underscores how creativity and determination can overcome academic challenges.
