“Stunned, overwhelmed, humbled – these are just a few of the words to describe my initial reaction when I heard my name,” Sara Miller told PG Buzz about how the former greeting card designer felt when her name was announced as the winner of the Best Talent or Fashion Brand in the Brand & Lifestyle Licensing Awards (B&LLAs). These pre-eminent annual awards for the brand licensing sector are owned and organised by Max Publishing, which also owns Progressive Greetings and PG Buzz.net.
“To be nominated against the likes of David Beckham, Paul Hollywood and Matthew Williamson felt like such an achievement in itself, of which I was incredibly proud, but to actually win… there are no words! I was literally stunned,” added Sara went onto the stage at The Dorchester last Thursday (April 26) where the event was held, hosted by actor Richard E Grant, to collect her trophy.
Summing up her meteoric rise, from working for publishers Hallmark and Woodmansterne to striking out on her own, Sara said: “It’s crazy to think that it was only three years ago that I showed my work at PG Live and while I had a big vision for what would become ‘the brand’, little did I know, it would come true.”
Not forgetting her ‘roots’ Sara said she “will forever be grateful for my greeting card experience leading me into this. We are continuing to develop and push boundaries on our range of greeting cards with The Art File and they have now been translated into numerous languages as they are sold around the world. It’s also a bit of light relief jumping between Sara Miller London and Jaz & Baz as we continue to expand our range with Portfolio. Both ranges have around 150 cards so it’s definitely keeping us busy!”
Having launched on greeting cards, the Sara Miller London brand now graces a host of different products from tableware (Portmeirion) to giftware (My Trade Gifts) and is also soon to debut on toiletries (Heathcote and Ivory), jewellery & watches (Peers Hardy) and upmarket luggage and bags (Pelham).