New! www.yoursecretboutique.co.uk, all Havana labels  now available to order online!

If you’ve picked up a copy of WM lately, you will have seen us featured as a boutique showcase! If you haven’t had a chance to read the article, here it is:

Boutique Showcase: Havana

This girlie boutique in Cowbridge is one of a kind. WM popped in for a cuppa and didn’t want to leave.

Awen Evans and Emma Hartmann only set up their boutique in 2005, but it seems hard to remember what Cowbridge was like before it was there.

The friends decided to open to shop after establishing the gorgeous High Society bridal shop next door in 2002 and spotting a gap in the market.

“We were getting all these lovely brides coming to High Society and they were saying they’d miss not coming to Cowbridge after their weddings, so we thought we’d create a boutique for them to come to”, said Awen, 41.

The result is a spacious shop with fresh white walls and twinkling chandeliers that’s home to a mix of labels suitable for women from their late 20s upwards.

“The thing that links all the labels here is style, not fashion. The key is buying items that would look nice on a 25-year-old and a 45-year-old. People don’t want their clothes to label them as being a certain age anymore,” says Emma, 37.

New for Spring/Summer 09, Havana is stocking the very well-cut and wearable Betty Jackson Two collection, and London label Marilyn Moore. These sit well alongside their other recent additions like fun Irish label Avoca and glam dress label Nicolangela as well as labels they’ve had since the beginning like InWear and Fenn Wright Manson.

“I love Betty Jackson Two because there are some great block colours and amazing cuts and fabrics. Some of it is work wear – depending on where you work, of course – but it’s also great for a summer party or if you’re a guest at a wedding,” says Awen, who regularly wears the things she sells in the shop.

“I love the whole shop at this time of year actually because it’s bright and cheerful. The winter we’ve just come through was so horrible, what with the recession and all the black that was around. This season we’ve got lots of colour and prints, and I think that’s what people want.”

The main point of contact for many of the loyal customers at Havana is the manager, Linda Blackall.

Linda has recently started accompanying Awen and Emma on buying trips as she knows exactly what the regular customers will love, and the trio even buy some pieces with particular customers in mind.

This sums up the different between the high street shops and what you’ll find at Havana – the service. Busy women can just say they need something for a certain occasion and the team at Havana can recommend pieces that will work – to them customers are friends.

Originally published in WM issue 46: Summer 2009. Edited by Charlotte Laing.

Havana now has a new website called www.yoursecretboutique.co.uk, where you can buy all of the wonderful labels at Havana online. Your very own secret independent boutique, available at the touch of a button!