Mother's Day in Style
Family Business, as Told By Clare + Her Daughters
13Mar
2026Building a business is no mean feat. To do it whilst also raising children is something else entirely.
So to celebrate Mother’s Day (in the UK - to our international readers, don’t panic), ME+EM Founder Clare Hornby and her daughters, Maddy and Grace, came together for a very special shoot, and to chat about what the experience of starting and building the company was like from both sides, the impact its had on them, and the value of shared advice (and when to ignore it).
Clare, Maddy and Grace were just two and three years old, respectively, when you launched ME+EM. How did that experience help shape the brand?
In the early years, it was crazy busy because they also have three older brothers and sisters, so I had five children every weekend, every holiday, and we lived out of town. I was driving up to London and then back for all their matches, all their productions… That’s when I really understood what busy means, and that informed what our customer needed. It even inspired styles like the Layering Shirt - that was intelligent style come to life.
Maddy and Grace, what was it like watching your mum build her own business?
Maddy: I think there's two sides to it. I think growing up with fashion kind of at the heart of your identity - not in a way that's superficial, but in a way allows you to really understand who you are through clothes - I think that's what I love so much about it. Mum makes so many clothes, but all three of us wear them completely differently. I've definitely got more of a feminine style.
Grace: And I'm a lot more tomboyish.
Maddy: Yeah. And then the side of seeing Mum create the business that she has and how big it is, it is a bit like, we need to get on with it! But it's very inspiring. And even friends come up to me and say, it's just incredible.
Grace: One of my friends came into the office and she was like, oh my gosh, this is amazing! And they also go, your mum’s at every single match. You were there basically more than any other mum, whilst running this business. It was pretty amazing.
Can you see yourselves running your own businesses?
Grace: I think because both of our parents have started and run their own businesses, you kind of aspire to do the same, but we'll see.
Maddy: It's easier said than done.
Grace: Very much easier said than done!
Multi-generational appeal is a key part of ME+EM’s ethos. What role did having daughters play in informing that?
Clare: I think because they've grown up with fashion, they've just got a really good eye for what ideas to send me for the business. And increasingly, as they get older, they and their friends wear it more and more.
Grace: I live with 10 girls at university. When my mum opened up the store in Manchester, she took us all there and it was so interesting seeing what everyone actually wanted to try on. We all became obsessed with this one jacket and Mum said, okay, we'll get one for the house, and she goes on a rota now!
Clare: I spend a lot of time with the girls and their friends, always have, whether it was at hockey matches, or now taking them all out to supper in Manchester or up in Edinburgh [where Maddy and Grace are at university].
And in Edinburgh and Manchester - guess what? There are ME+EM stores. I'd been intending to open [stores there] but I hadn't had the time. But when they started at uni, that's when I could research it properly. So they even influenced where the stores go.
Maddy and Grace, be honest - how vocal are you in giving your mum advice on the brand?
Grace: [to Maddy] You're probably more vocal. I was vocal when I worked at the store - I got so much insight. Obviously I hear Mum's side of everything, the reason why you do everything to make a woman feel really confident. But actually hearing the customer say how everything just fits so well - I didn't realise that until I was actually with the customer face-to-face every day.
Maddy: I'm quite vocal. But I have more of an opinion on it I think - not just on ME+EM, I'm just more invested in fashion.
With so much fashion in your life, what’s the style advice you've chosen to ignore?
Maddy to Clare: I ignore your advice when you say that you don't like something. Some things that are, like, maybe a little bit too weird or wrong. Mum's always like, don't, and I sometimes have to go, no, I'm going to do it.
Grace: I feel like my fashion's just more a pair of tracksuit bottoms and a jumper. I have to take a lot of advice.
Clare: Grace normally likes something when somebody else has come in and gone, oh, I really like those. And you go, oh, maybe Mum's a bit cooler than I thought! But that's influencing, isn't it? Quite often you see someone in the office in something and you think, that's really cool. That's why actually getting women in the right things in the stores is really important because then someone goes, you look so cool in that, and that's how a brand builds - through confirmation from other people.
So, Clare - Maddy and Grace will be starting out on their own careers soon. What’s your advice for building the perfect starter work wardrobe?
Definitely the barrel-leg trousers because they seem to be universally loved, and when you start work, you want to look cool but smart. And you can then wear multiple tops with them: little t-shirts, shirts, feminine tops, all of the Baby Tees go with them. They’re such a good starter silhouette. And they go with almost all shoes. You can wear them with a ballet flat or a trainer. Then the other one is either the Sharp Shoulder Blazer or the Oversized Blazer, because then you can go slimmer on the bottom half and you've still got something really cool on the top half. Then a reversible belt, that's a really good investment. And don't forget socks - socks make ballet flats and trainers look really cool. And if you're wearing a crop trouser, that's an added little bit of texture that you can throw in.
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