Natalie Harper Howell has experience of curating looks for high-end fashion magazines and clients about to step onto the red carpet. But her born-and-bred Lincolnshire brand, Hunt & Hall, offers luxury British-made clothing with genuine values, quality and longevity in every natural fibre…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\ufeffI\u2008can\u2019t help thinking that Natalie Harper Howell\u2019s desire to curate a collection of timelessly stylish but versatile and wearable fashions is a bit like returning from LA\u2008to Lincolnshire. After living in the States, it must have been refreshing to move back somewhere a bit more down to earth, even if, today, the designer splits her time between the two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Natalie was in Montecito and Beverly Hills back in December, but soon returned home, trading the opportunity to look out of her apartment window at the famous Hollywood sign for a view of fields with, at this time of year, dazzling yellow oilseed rape crops and golden fields of wheat instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After decades spent working at the very top of the fashion industry, from London to Los Angeles, Dubai to the pages of the world\u2019s most prestigious magazines, she has returned to Lincolnshire not to replicate what already exists, but to build something rather different. Her brand, Hunt & Hall, is not about chasing trends or courting attention. Instead, it is rooted in experience, craftsmanship and a clear sense of purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was born and raised in Sutton-on-Sea,\u201d says Natalie. \u201cI\u2008went to St Joseph\u2019s School in Lincoln, which is now Lincoln Minster School. Back then I couldn\u2019t wait to get out of Lincolnshire\u2026 so I moved down to London and I started working for a fashion retailer called Matches. That\u2019s kind of where I started with my styling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Matches was, at the time, one of the most influential fashion retailers in the country, and Natalie quickly found herself working with clients like Mick Jagger, Jerry Hall and with Premier League footballers, and the experience proved formative. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI quickly moved into menswear where I learned about tailoring and suits\u2026 it was a great kind of starting block for me in understanding the technicalities of how clothing is made and what makes it last.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The grounding she had in tailoring still informs Natalie\u2019s work today. It also helped shape her understanding of proportion, fit and longevity, qualities that would later define Hunt & Hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fashion, however, was always part of her upbringing. Trips to London with her mum left a lasting impression. \u201cWe\u2019d always go down to London and be in all the boutiques; Kensington back then and King\u2019s Road was like the place to be\u2026 it was all very exciting and it definitely inspired a love of fashion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After a decade in London, Natalie moved to Los Angeles, where her career expanded rapidly. She opened a boutique and began styling clients for red carpet events, including the Oscars. Editorial work followed, with commissions for titles such as Vanity Fair. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI got asked to do a couple of photo shoots for editorials\u2026 lots of red carpets for the Oscars and all that kind of stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From LA, her career took her to Dubai, where Natalie worked in fashion editorial, becoming fashion editor for two magazines and freelancing for some of the most recognisable names in the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Working with Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton and Tommy Hilfiger all became part of her professional life… not to mention the fact that she gained an ability to work with some of the world\u2019s most demanding brands and the most demanding editors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all of it,\u201d she says of her role. \u201cIt\u2019s the styling, it\u2019s finding locations, putting together a team\u2026 you handle the whole production.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That meant not just selecting clothes, but conceptualising entire shoots, locations, photographers, models, hair and make-up. For Natalie, these weren\u2019t simply editorial spreads, they were works of art. \u201cI look at it as creating artwork, not just a magazine feature\u2026 something I\u2019d hang on my wall.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite her global career, Lincolnshire has always remained part of her creative language. Over the years, she has returned repeatedly to shoot here, for clients, drawn by its variety and authenticity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve shot all over Lincolnshire: Sutton-on-Sea Beach, Cleethorpes, the woods at Alford, Ludford\u2026 there are so many great locations here.\u201d It\u2019s perhaps no surprise, then, that when she came to establish her own brand, it would be rooted here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hunt & Hall was conceived in 2020, during a period of profound change. After years of travelling and working internationally, Natalie found herself reassessing both her career and her priorities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019d always wanted to do my own clothing brand\u2026 so I started with my alpaca sweaters and cashmere beanies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Clients, familiar with her styling work, began asking where they could buy the items she had designed herself. \u201cI\u2008started getting calls from customers asking where they were from and that\u2019s pretty much how my brand started.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From those early designs, Hunt & Hall has grown into a cohesive collection, defined by a clear philosophy: timeless style over trend-led fashion. Natalie is unequivocal on this point. \u201cI just want something that will always stay in your wardrobe\u2026 not fashion-led that you\u2019re trying to donate or sell later on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This approach informs everything from design to production and as she was raised in a farming family, Natalie places a strong emphasis on supporting British industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her fabrics, wool, tweed and silk, are sourced from UK mills, while leather and suede come from a traditional tannery near Louth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI very much want to support UK businesses and families,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The result is a collection that is both luxurious and grounded. Field jackets, blazers and knitwear are designed not as seasonal statements, but as enduring pieces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI want pieces that will last forever\u2026 something I can pass down to my daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Practicality is central to this ethos. Many garments feature adaptable elements, detachable collars, interchangeable trims and reversible details, allowing them to be worn in multiple ways. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This philosophy extends to how the clothes are worn too, as Hunt & Hall\u2019s collection is designed to move effortlessly between settings; town and country, day and evening. \u201cI want my pieces to look equally at home in both places,\u201d Natalie says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her philosophy is a direct rejection of fast fashion and its emphasis on volume and novelty. \u201cI don\u2019t like doing things that are \u2018on trend\u2019 or follow a dictated colour or style that\u2019s \u2018in.\u2019 It\u2019s about longevity and using high quality fabrics and yarns from cashmere and tweed to wool.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Natalie\u2019s focus is on what works for the individual, what enhances confidence and personal style, reflected in her studio near Louth, where customers are invited to experience the brand in person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Appointments offer guidance, reassurance and advice (if solicited) from someone with professional experience as a fashion stylist for some of the world\u2019s most high-profile fashion magazines. Natalie has even arranged for her preferred hair stylist and makeup artists to provide confidence-boosting experiences so that her customers can make an enjoyable day out of their visit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA lot of ladies just get stuck in a style rut\u2026 I want you to feel fabulous.\u201d It\u2019s a philosophy shaped by her years as a stylist. Unlike traditional retail environments, where the emphasis is on sales, Natalie prioritises honesty and outcome. \u201cI want you to look good because you\u2019re representing my brand\u2026 I want you to get compliments.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That sense of responsibility extends to the next generation. Her six-year-old daughter Harper has already contributed to the brand through a sub-collection, Harper\u2019s Little Hunt Club, with a portion of proceeds supporting Lincolnshire\u2019s Rural Support Network (LRSN). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Natalie, being back in Lincolnshire is a wonderful thing, and an important way to keep her brand grounded in values like quality, classic British style, ethics and sustainability. Fashion, she says, is something that can empower women and bring great pleasure, as long as it\u2019s done well. And right now, we don\u2019t think anyone\u2019s doing it better!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\ufeffNatalie Harper Howell is the founder of her luxury British clothing brand Hunt & Hall, based near Louth. Her studio is open Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays with appointments recommended. For more information on her collection, see www.huntandhall.com.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Natalie Harper Howell has experience of curating looks for high-end fashion magazines and clients about to step onto the red…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4022,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[701,703,143,27,700,702],"class_list":["post-4021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-highlights","tag-british-made","tag-clothing","tag-fashion","tag-lincolnshire","tag-style","tag-women"],"acf":false,"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/lincolnshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/lincolnshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/lincolnshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/lincolnshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/lincolnshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4021"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/lincolnshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4021\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4023,"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/lincolnshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4021\/revisions\/4023"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/lincolnshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/lincolnshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/lincolnshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/lincolnshire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}