City lawyer turned fashion designer swaps billables for bags

Ex-Taylor Wessing associate Saher Bhatti now runs successful vegan handbag brand

A former City lawyer has reflected on her journey from commercial law specialist to fashion entrepreneur with the launch of her successful handbag business.

Saher Bhatti is the founder of Lawful London, a company specialising in cruelty-free, eco-friendly vegan leather handbags.

Bhatti, who trained and worked for Taylor Wessing according to her LinkedIn, developed an interest in sustainable fashion while working with clients in the global fashion and luxury brands sectors.

“I left my firm and worked part-time doing legal consultancy,” Bhatti explains in a recent interview with business magazine Forbes. “I took a huge pay cut but I made this decision to free up my time to set up the business.”

She worked part-time and eventually saved nearly £30,000 to cover the initial start-up costs, including designs, sampling, marketing shoots, website, and the first bulk order.

Founded just before the Covid pandemic, Bhatti shaped her vision for Lawful London by working with a top UK designer who had previously collaborated with the likes of Ralph Lauren and Ted Baker.

The bags themselves seem to be designed with the busy lawyer in mind, featuring storage for laptops, chargers, makeup, wallets, and even a change of shoes or clothes.

“The aim is to launch sustainable products (not seasonal products) which can be sold all year round,” she says. “We double down on what’s worked, for example launching more colours in our hero product, rather than focusing on constantly launching new designs when we don’t know how they will perform. We also now have five warehouses globally and sell to the UK, Europe, Far East, Middle East and US, so we can sell to customers across the globe at affordable shipping rates that don’t eat into our margins too heavily.”

The decision to swap billable targets for handbag design seems to be paying off for Bhatti, who qualified in 2017 and specialised in commercial and technology law. The article reveals that her brand achieved £1.1 million in sales last year with 60% profit margins and is projected to reach £2.9 million in revenue this year.

Bhatti studied economics and politics at the University of Birmingham before completing both a conversion course and the Legal Practice Course at BPP Law School.