Bowes Threads originated from Bowes Vintage, a vintage shop situated in the Princes Avenue area of Hull. Opened summer 2008 by sisters Sarah Bowes 27 and Katie Bowes 25. Mainly selling vintage clothing but the business also offered an alteration service. Sarah graduated with a fashion degree so was perfect at providing an excellent alteration service with her seamstress know how. The Bowes girls also reworked a lot of their vintage stock to bring it up to date and bang on trend. Katie always had a passion for creating her own T-Shirt prints, she experimented with a few designs at Bowes Vintage mainly featuring legendary rock bands, these T-shirts did brilliantly and it was then that she knew she had a flair for making prints which shoppers would love.
Unfortunately Bowes Vintage slowly came to an end after 4 years of trying extremely hard to make it work. Sarah then met Amy Ellerton 21 when working as a seamstress at a local boutique. Katie, Sarah and Amy decided to join forces and create their very own collection to sell online and on ASOS Marketplace.
Bowes Threads was born in January 2013 and in such little time we successfully managed to secure a 6 month contract for a concession in Topshop's Hull St Stephens store. None of us would have ever dreamt Bowes Threads would have a concession in Topshop within just a few months of starting the business. It just shows how far you can come with a lot of hard work, commitment, determination and a great eye for fashion, well 3 eyes at that!
The Bowes Threads concession launched in May 2013. A collection of garments ranging from Maxi & Midi dresses to reworked Vintage Denim Shorts to their very own one of a kind 'Hull Loves' printed T-Shirts.
The Bowes Threads 'Hull Loves' collection celebrates Hull's extraordinary heritage. The collection includes a 'Pattie Butty' and a 'Chip Spice' printed T-Shirt. All these traditions are what make Hull the place it is. When you're Hull born and bred, you would never expect your chips to be served without Chip Spice and you would never find a Fish n Chip shop that didn't serve Pattie Butty's. But the funny thing is when you leave the City you realise how unique Hull is. We absolutely love this about Hull! This is the reason why we have dedicated a selection of our collection to the wonderful wacky traits of Hull.
The concession in Topshop Hull came to an end in January 2014. Our Hull Loves Collection had been a brilliant success. With this is mind we focussed on expanding the range. We now had various new designs printed on not only t-shirts but baseball tops, sweatshirts and even baby t-shirts. Now everyone could have a piece of the Bowes Threads range!
A range of the Bowes Threads ‘Hull Loves’ Collection is now been sold in local independent stores around the city. You can find our t-shirts in Beasley’s Clothing in Hepworths Arcade, Tessies Boutique in Newland Avenue and also Poorboy Boutique in Princes Quay.
We also attend monthly markets around the city of Hull, such as Humber Street Market, Trinity Square Market, and Princes Quay Market.
You’ll also find us at large festival events in the city, Freedom Festival and Humber Street Sesh. You can keep up to date with these events by following our Facebook, Twitter or Instagram feed.
We’re now looking forward to the future, with Hull receiving the City of Culture 2017 accolade, Hull is finally getting the recognition it deserves for been the wonderful city that it is.
This is a great opportunity for us to get involved and for Bowes Threads to become bigger than ever!