ANTONY AKILADE meets the founder of Gilda & Pearl, Diane Houston.

For Diane Houston, designer of high-end, luxury lingerie, setting up in business has been a whirlwind romance worthy of a Hollywood treatment starring Monroe and Gable. The founder behind the Gilda & Pearl brand has seen the company break into fiercely competitive fashion markets around the world in just a few short years.

Houston's designs draw on an aesthetic from the golden-age of the silver screen with collections such as 'How to Marry a Millionaire' and 'Scandal In Paris'. These have become international bestsellers and Houston has enjoyed attention from the fashion pages of Harper's Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, the Sunday Times Style and The Observer.

"My approach was to go with the flow. But in retrospect it has all been quite daunting. I started out about five years ago and incorporated the company two years ago," says Houston perched in her studio with a Lindy Hop number setting the tone in the background.

"Exporting happened really quickly," she explains. "I got an order from figleaves.com. They are based in the UK but sell worldwide. The order came within a few weeks of setting up and we didn't really have the resources.

"We got a loan and a grant from the Prince's Trust and we rented premises from the Argyll Arcade in Glasgow on a day rate. It was just myself and a few other really good machinists and it was through the night working for weeks. There was so much happening including having the collection photographed in the Observer's main fashion section. Quality was paramount for building the brand so I made sure we never compromised on that, no matter what the challenges."

Houston is due to give a talk on her experiences as a successful exporter at the Pret-A-Exporter event at The Lighthouse in Glasgow on the 6th February. Organised jointly by Scottish Enterprise's Smart Exporter and Fashion Foundry she aims to help inspire other Scottish companies to get their wares to wider markets.

"The first export market for me was Australia then it was North America, China and Japan. For the Chinese market it's more about the Made in Britain aspect of the products rather than the whole vintage thing. We've become a heritage brand in many ways."

"One of the key points is to stress the importance of researching your market before exporting. That's about making use of the resources that are out there like SDI and Business Gateway. And to be aware of the various trade missions and trade shows that are going on. I'm hoping to make it to China this year. There is a lot of demand for British luxury brands out there at the moment."

Gilda & Pearl offer a bespoke service which includes customisation of ready to wear pieces with crystal initials or even complete bespoke pieces made to measure. Items are hand-finished using traditional seaming methods, skills which the industry is quickly losing. Uniqueness and attention to detail makes the collections stand out and Houston stresses that she puts a lot of effort into protecting her designs.

"I've learned that protecting your intellectual property is crucial. It's so easy to overlook. You get the order and you just want to send your designs over there. But they need to be protected or it can really backfire on you. Everything should be registered and you've got to have the paperwork in place. With something like lingerie it can be difficult. There are only so many ways to attach a bow. It's more about the company name and the product lines. One of my best sellers is called 'How To Marry a Millionaire' after the movie so we'll look to get some protection on that. Also something like the colours on the labels, the general aesthetics these are things you look to protect."

Gilda & Pearl recently won £50K from the Scottish EDGE fund. The company has also just announced an investment from The William Currie Group which specialises in growing online retail companies with successes such as The Hut Group, Metapack, and ASOS under their belts. This money will be used to help boost company growth says Houston.

"We've just secured the backing from William Currie Group and we're due to have our first board meeting in January. So it will be really good to have access to their expertise about achieving online growth."

"Hopefully the growth rates we've already enjoyed will accelerate going forward. Staff numbers will grow and I'm very keen to use the graduate talent that's around. I'm not just talking about design talent, there's also e-commerce talent, language graduates and business graduates. It'll be great to tap into that as much as we can and keep it as local as possible."