Frankie Bridge on Starting Over When Everyone Assumes You're Already There

Some bets take longer to pay off

Frankie Bridge spent two decades in the public eye as a Saturdays member, Sunday Times bestselling author and TV presenter. Now she is building FAVES, a fashion platform rooted in community rather than aspiration, and finding out exactly what it costs to build something nobody took seriously at first.

The version of female entrepreneurship that looks like relentless optimism and girl boss energy has become outdated. What I have really experienced is a genuine sense of womanhood: women supporting women. My team are covering multiple jobs at a time; we all want success for each other and will do whatever needs to be done to achieve that. There is only so far that positivity can take you. In reality, it involves a lot of hard work, dedication and discipline. You have to take the rough with the smooth and we spend most of our time moving onto the next project, forgetting to fully celebrate what we have already achieved.

Obviously, it is a juggle, any working mother knows that. I had my first child while I was still in The Saturdays, so I do not really know much different. Women are amazing at managing everything they do. The main problem is that the school system is not set up to make it any easier. So, we all bend over backwards to be there as much as possible. Networking is a huge part of business and that often means unsociable hours. There is a lot of mum guilt.

I am a very impatient person, and I thought things would happen faster than they do. Starting in the music industry before streaming was a thing, I am used to big numbers: single sales, arenas. It has been hard to get my head around thirty people being a decent number for an event. Nobody warned me how close the highs and the lows would fall. One minute you can be celebrating a sell-out show, the next a huge deal falls through. People also treated me like it was just a hobby at first and did not take me seriously.

“I am staying true to myself and showing other women that we can be multifaceted, and that pivoting in life can be exciting.”

I have always been open and honest about my mental health because I know firsthand that it can make you feel alone. FAVES has been the natural next step. Now I am just more open and honest about the industry I am in. It is not always the most welcoming space, so I am doing something to change that. I aim for everyone I work with to be happy and love what they do.

Being in the public eye for a long time makes building something new harder, especially when I started at such a young age. But it is not about changing perception. It is about introducing people to a different side of me that has always been there. Singing took centre stage for a long time. This is my passion and it always has been. It is just that now I have the opportunity to bring it to the forefront. Not everyone will get it and that is fine. I know I am staying true to myself and showing other women that we can be multifaceted, and that pivoting in life can be exciting.

FAVES sits at the intersection of commerce, community and personal confidence, but community is our most central pillar. Women use the platform to talk about their latest finds; they share on group chats and give each other recommendations. Commerce is by far the hardest part, because what we are doing with FAVES is different: brands are having to put their trust in us without fully understanding the concept. Unlike most brands, we are not relying on influencers. We are relying on a community of real women. It can be tempting to work with brands that offer the most money, but if they do not align with our values, it is not worth it. People need to be able to trust us and what we stand for.

“We are so used to influencers sharing so much every day that it has become hard to establish genuine trust.”

We are so used to influencers sharing so much every day that it has become hard to establish genuine trust.This means FAVES needs to lean even further into our community. Once a month, a member of our community takes over our platform and does an edit of everything they love. That builds trust because our audience feels seen and heard. We want to expand and build on this as much as possible, grow women's confidence and individuality, and show them that they can be part of and achieve brilliant things.

People confuse aspirational style with expensive clothes. That is simply not the case. FAVES is about teaching you how to use your existing pieces, build your wardrobe with what is missing and keep it aligned to who you are. We teach you how to style the high street to look and feel amazing, from red carpet to everyday basics. There is so much available to us now it can be overwhelming. FAVES removes the hard work and does it for you.

There is still a typical model size body. FAVES, in contrast, is about accessibility and ensuring everyone feels seen. Our community, who ranges from 18 to 65 years old, wants to feel represented. The reaction to our London Fashion Week runway was bigger than even we expected and we think that is because we represented our audience properly. The women who walked for FAVES told us they felt a new sense of confidence and exhilaration. Our next runway will be even more diverse.