About Us
The Powder Room was opened by Joanna Isles Freeman
on a three month lease in September 2006 with a small rail of quirky
clothes from Paris and a lot of ebullience!
Joanna trained as a Graphic Designer and
Illustrator at The Glasgow School of Art so her visual passion for
beauty and individuality is displayed in the window! For years she
worked for BBC illustrating for the childrens programme, Playschool
before she moved to St James Palace to work for The Royal Collection,the
commercial arm of Buckingham Palace. Here she designed a whole range of
products still in existence for the summer openings of the palace after
the fire at Windsor Castle.As a freelance illustrator,she has had 10
books published most notably A Proper Tea in 1986.This led her to Oxford
where she was interviewed by David Freeman who had a renowned radio
book programme for BBC on Banbury Road just opposite where The Powder
Room is now! Joanna and David were married in 1994 and have two teenage
daughters Amy and Hattie who are great models for the shop where they
also work when not sitting exams!
Prior to The Powder Room, when it became too
difficult to illustrate at home with two effervescing daughters ,Joanna
travelled from Fair to Fair selling baskets of goodies she had either
handmade or handpicked. She, with the help of her friend Sarah Buckley
took a tiny stand at The Country Living Fair 2000 in Islington London
selling handpainted china fired in a kiln in the spare bedroom!. They
won Best Stand Design which catapulted them to the front of the fair the
following year to a huge stand which they had to fill! It took quite a
few years of selling lovely gifts to realise what women really want and
cant resist are clothes! The advent of The Powder Room, (named after a
random glass sign from a 1950s Hotel she bought from Annie Sloan) was
somewhat life changing!
Now nearly four years later, The Powder Room
opposite M&S in Summertown endeavours to provide a wide range of
designs and sizes at different price points.Being on a high street TPR
must offer good quality every day wear with a difference but at a very
reasonable cost. Joanna continually learns what the customers both need
and like. She frequently travels in search of unusual collections, both
large and small, buying only a few of each to ensure the unlikely
embarrassment of 2 customers wearing the same dress at a dinner party.
These travels include Paris Italy Copenhagen Istanbul and India where
there is a wealth of hidden fashion waiting to be discovered in the
least likely places! Joanna strives through her many days abroad to
collect a rare selection of clothes you cannot find in the UK. Paris in
particular provides a complementary collection of costume jewellry,
scarves, pumps and a fabulous range of Italian leather boots. The over
the knee range have become legendary! As well as maintaining the shop, a
group of staff branch out setting up TPR at Fairs
