Manchester-based fashion brand Six Stories has ranked in the top 20 on the 2024 edition of The Sunday Times 100, a prestigious annual ranking of Britain’s fastest growing companies following a period of rapid expansion making them the first bridal brand to feature on the list.
The e-commerce business, which was started by husband and wife duo Ross and Lucy Menghini in 2019 sells a range of bridal wear providing a wardrobe of high quality, fashion first and statement pieces for every single bridal appointment through to wedding days.
Before beginning Six Stories, Lucy previously worked as Marketing Director at Social Chain when it launched and Ross as Business Development Manager at Apadmi.
The business initially began with Lucy making handmade bridal gifts and selling on e-commerce platform, Etsy from 2017 following her departure from Social Chain to consult. Over a two year period the husband and wife duo came up with numerous ideas on how to launch their bridal business deciding to register Six Stories in 2019 with the intention to carry on selling handmade to order bridal items really leaning into what ‘brides’ are looking for.
In 2020, a year after launch the pandemic hit, which resulted in all weddings and events being put on hold indefinitely; however Lucy and Ross saw this as an opportunity to pivot. Ahead of the pandemic they had launched a range of casual t-shirts and sweatshirts ensuring brides had something for each bridal appointment. They offered all followers (at the time just over 500) across their social media a free ‘bridey’ t-shirt with the aim of amplifying the Six Stories brand values that brides can still feel special without a wedding.
This quickly grew and the brand gave away 15,000 free t-shirts which Lucy and Ross credit as a ‘turning point’ of the brand with rapid growth across social media and brides recognising that Six Stories was a brand that was there for brides in a way in which they needed.
Following the pandemic, Six Stories had built up an incredible following and made the decision to pivot towards high quality casualwear, a selection of gifts for brides and bridesmaids whilst moving away from the handmade element of the business. The brand hired Lorna Whyatt, the former Buying Director from fast-fashion brand, Nasty Gal to spearhead the occasionwear arm of the business with a selection of bridesmaids dresses launched soon after. To date over 60,000 bridesmaids dresses have been sold with extensive growth plans for this arm of the business.
2023 was integral for the growth with the brand announcing it would be stocked in Selfridges, Very.co.uk and ASOS as well as engagement with a number of wedding shows with the aim of driving sales and creating a personal touchpoint with brides to be. Six Stories also expanded their warehouse offering launching in America and announced an office move in Altrincham with their first bespoke fit-out.
This was followed by a sample sale in 2024 which had 5-hour long queues in Manchester city-centre, a highlight of the brand’s journey.
Lucy Menghini said: “Being named on the Sunday Times 100 fastest growing companies for 2024 is something I am incredibly proud of. Myself and Ross have managed to scale the brand and keep the heart and soul of the business exactly the same. When we set out on this journey we wanted to create a brand that made brides feel special every step of the way in high-quality bridal wear becoming a ‘one stop’ shop for all of those personal items for a bride’s big day.
“We have grown a team who also live and breathe the Six Stories brand values and have been able to reach some huge milestones. I am looking forward to watching the brand continue to grow with plans to double our product offering over the coming months, taking everything we’ve learnt about bridal and move into every day casual and occasion. It’s a very exciting time and we are so grateful to everyone who has supported our vision over the last five years. This really is just the start for Six Stories.”
Six Stories now has a team of 20 people mostly female-led across buying, merchandising, marketing and finance. The brand has extensive growth plans to scale Six Stories and continue to nurture personal and meaningful connections with all customers.
The brand will be inviting 100 of their top customers and supporters to a very special event at their new Altrincham HQ in order to celebrate and share with them the next iteration of the Six Stories brand.
