It's International Womens Day on 8^th March which got us thinking about those fabulous ladies from around the world (past and present) from all walks of life who inspire us! Whether its politics, science, space, conservation, sport, music, art, lets face it – we’ve come a long way!!

“Big” names like Michelle Obama, Emmeline Pankhurst (votes for women!) Marie Curie, Oprah Winfrey, Helen Sharman, Kelly Holmes, Beyonce Knowles, Tracey Emin, Florence Nightingale, Vivienne Westwood, Queen Elizabeth II -actually when you think about it, that’s rather a lot of inspirational women from only a few walks of life just in that one paragraph and there are so many more too!

We think it is important to reflect on those who influence us personally.  The people we see day to day, sometimes friends, sometimes acquaintances, sometimes they are ladies where you don’t know their name but recognise their face?  Sometimes it can be a particular family member, a teacher or a friend of the family that can play a big part in your life which you don’t realise at the time?  All of the interactions that we have do in some way shape us into who we are today whether we realise it or not at the time and that goes for our Design Team in Aix en Provence too!

This season you may have noticed a few names appearing in the waistband inside our denim jeans but did you know that these are names of women who have inspired our Design Team? 

The Jane flared jeans are inspired by Designer Jane Birkin who famously invented THE Birkin Bag …

… and the Kate straighter cut creased trousers are inspired by the style of supermodel Kate Moss. 

The reason for giving the name to the jeans is not like the reason behind the names we sometimes  give to our cars (we nicknamed one Yoda once as the registration ended YDA and my boys were into Star Wars at the time).

The plan is that as we move through the seasons, these will be a “staple” part of the collection and when you find the styles that you love, remember the name so that you will automatically know which ones are “your favourite jeans” when they return in a different colour/wash.

My Nana taught me how to knit, a friend of the family who was a retired school cook taught me how to bake, our neighbour “Aunty Vera“ loved her garden and taught me how to grow plants (ok – so I perhaps wasn’t paying too much attention to that one as I’m alright with outdoor plants but useless at keeping indoor plants alive!!) - all were ladies who I personally interacted with but nowadays  celebrities play a huge part in influencing our lives too (“Oprah Winfrey and Ricki Lake teach me things….” as Robbie Williams sang in the lyrics to ‘Strong’) …

When growing up learning about relationships in the 80’s was usually from a well read ‘Jackie’ Magazine passed around in the school playground and if you didn’t have a sister or friend who knew what they were doing, then learning the more practical day to day things of being female could often be harder to pick up.  As technology has advanced you can now Google or “ask Alexa” but that can open up a whole new ‘can of worms’ to add to the confusion but that is where we step in at Tortue!  Our fab team have varied interests and life experiences, we ourselves are all shapes and sizes but we all have one thing in common – a love of our Tortue fashion, friendships, making the most out of life, having fun and sharing our knowledge & expertise to help other ladies to look good and feel good in the clothes that they wear too!

We have lots of carefully thought out details that are not just there for show in a garment but serve a purpose too which our Design Team in Aix en Provence have tested on real women in the workplace before the designs get anywhere near to a model in a look book!

Our planet friendly “Planet Tortue” items are being expanded across all of our ranges and we are finding ways to incorporate more eco fabrics that we have not used before in our garments

Whatever your body shape, age or lifestyle, we can help you find your style and work with it.  Our Little Miss range is specifically designed with a petite frame in mind, our Trend range caters for a more tailored dressier look, our Little Miss range covers most lifestyles and our Java range is a more relaxed wellness/holiday vibe. 

Like the little sign says “My sister taught me about shoes and shopping!” and we would love to share our knowledge with you to help you shop too!

Happy International Womens Day!

Angela x