Mulberry founder auctions unique and historic items

Somerset businessman and founder of the Mulberry fashion brand, Roger Saul, has put his personal collection up for auction on Wednesday.

Handbags, belts, sunglasses, furniture and curtains are just some of the items up for grabs.

Mr Saul founded the brand at his kitchen table in 197, with £500 given to him for his 21st birthday by his Mother.

He said the process of finding items to auction has been "really exciting" and looking back has suddenly made him realise just what an "amazing thing" Mulberry has become and been.

Mr Saul was born in 1950 in Lottisham, Somerset.

He moved to Midsomer Norton and attended Wells Cathedral School when he was 5-years-old, and later went to Kingswood boarding school in Bath.

In 1996, Mr Saul acquired Kilver Court in Shepton Mallet - initially using it as the headquarters for Mulberry before relocating the Mulberry factory shop from Chilcompton to the Old School House at Kilver Court.

Over the years, the factory shop had become a well-known institution as one of the first designer factory shops in the country.

As the fashion brand grew, Mr Saul said that to make work more accessible for his employees - as many of them were young mums - he would encourage them to "outwork" and sew from home so that they could work and enjoy their family.

He said vans would go around "collecting the bags" from the workers' houses.

Mr Saul said: "One thing that I tried to achieve with Mulberry was to make it aspirational as opposed to unobtainable - it didn't matter whether you could only afford the keyring or the purse."

He disputes that the brand is luxury and says he prefers to describe it as "special".

When he left Mulberry, he said that he was concerned that the brand would head for "luxury" status which he says "must've been sad" for that previous generation who grew alongside him.

Mr Saul said he's been creating things for all his life and has always learned "how to run them" after.

He added: "Finding items to auction has been really exciting and a great way to look back over the last 50 years - it's made me realise just what an amazing thing Mulberry has become and has been."