While a few of us may have taken the opportunity of the extra time presented by lockdown to learn a foreign language or take up yoga, many of us did little more than watch box sets and perhaps mow the grass more frequently.

Not so, Ella Holder, a young woman from Maidstone , who used took the opportunity to develop her own online fashion business.

Ella had already launched her new brand Forward Fashion UK a few weeks before lockdown - just after her 19th birthday. But the enforced stay-at-home gave her the chance to devote her entire attention to it.

She said: "I hope I used my time wisely during this difficult period.

"I wanted to specialise in bringing fast and easy fashion to my target market of 18 to 26-year-olds, which would be marketed through Instagram, and aimed directly at young girls like me.

"I had worked very hard in the lead up to the launch of Forward Fashion UK and when just a few weeks later, we went into a full lockdown, it was tough to keep going."

But while large High Street firms have been announcing redundancies , Ella's business, which she runs from her bedroom in her parents' home, has been going from strength to strength.

She said: "Lockdown just made me more determined than ever to make it work."

Ella has just completed her two-year Level 3 Diploma in Business at Mid Kent College gaining two Distinction Star’s and a Distinction in her final papers.

She said: "I just love business. I’ve always wanted to work for myself and build a career based on my passion."

The former New Line Learning Academy student purchased a MacBook to help her develop her website, and every day she sets out her laptop, notebooks and mood board as she gets to work sourcing her products and dispatching orders.

She worked in a bar and saved up to purchase her initial stock.

She said: "The business has been going nearly six months now and financially, like for any small business, it has been challenging.

"But my sales are growing each month.

"I read that even post-Covid 19, people are likely to be spending 21% less than they would normally.

"So I am working hard to ensure that my business meets the customers' need for affordable clothes, while still providing an exciting and therapeutic online shopping experience."

"I am just so passionate about my small brand."

"I love working on it every day and hope that one day I will be able to turn Forward Fashion into an international brand."

At present, Ella does everything herself - even down to modelling the clothes.

She also taught herself how to build a website, manage analytics, create social media content and understand business finance.

Her determination has already gained Forward Fashion UK 3,000 followers on Instagram and orders coming in from as far afield as Manchester and Northern Ireland.

She said: "I thought carefully about what makes young women hesitant to shop online - from my own personal experience - then set about to address those points."

"For example, all of my orders come with free shipping, so there are no surprises when you go to the checkout. It's all free, no matter what the spend.

"I am very keen to re-post girls if they tag Forward Fashion UK in their photos and are wearing my brand on the social media pages, which I feel helps to promote confidence and make women feel good about themselves and to make them feel apart of the brand.

"I designed the website to be easily used and to have sub categories that clearly highlight where certain products can be found - I feel some websites can be slightly delayed in the response at looking for exactly what the customer wants.

"I also felt it was very important to build a brand that exemplifies key stand-out points in comparison to the large competitors in the fashion industry. I am determined to grow my small business into something that demonstrates feel-good fashion and shows that young women in business with drive and determination, can certainly do it."

Ella said she now appreciates more the entrepreneurship of the small businessman or woman.

She said: "It has encouraged me to shop more from smaller businesses since having my own, as it has made me realise how important it is to shop small to help grow brands that have determination behind them."

She said: "I source my products from reputable wholesalers around the country and I'm always on the look out for more wholesalers to enable me to widen my offer.

"One of my long-term aims is to work with a seamstress to bring some of my own clothing ideas to life, so that Forward Fashion can eventually have its own-brand clothes."

Ella has been given enthusiastic backing by her friends and family who have been helping spread the word via their own social media accounts.

She said: "The support is one of the best feelings.

"Even people that follow my account on Instagram are always sharing and commenting on the posts. Although I don’t personally know them, that’s a great feeling in itself!"

You can visit the Forward Fashion UK website here

or follow the Instagram account @forwardfashionuk

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