an interview withFounder Dessi Bell

When Dessislava and Malcolm Bell founded Saint and Sofia following the birth of their second child, the vision was clear from the very beginning: to create a fashion brand built around fairness, creativity, quality and sustainability. What started as an ambitious idea has since evolved into one of London’s fastest-growing contemporary fashion brands - rooted firmly in those founding values while powered by a passionate and diverse team.

Today, Saint and Sofia continues to design collections from its London studios while building a workplace culture centred around collaboration, opportunity and creativity. For this, the brand has been recognised by Investors In People for creating an outstanding environment. At the heart of that culture is co-founder Dessi Bell, whose leadership has helped shape not only the brand itself, but also the team behind it.

We sat down with Dessi to talk about the journey of building Saint and Sofia, the importance of diversity within the company and why creativity and flexibility remain central to the business.

Building a Diverse Team at Saint and Sofia

From the beginning, diversity was something Dessi and Malcolm wanted embedded within the company culture.

“Our team has always reflected a mix of different nationalities, backgrounds and experiences,” Dessi explains. “That diversity is incredibly important because it brings different perspectives into the business and mirrors the diversity of our customers too.”

Today, the Saint and Sofia team includes individuals from across the UK and Europe, with backgrounds spanning fashion, retail, technology, operations, marketing and creative industries.

“Not everyone in the company originally came from fashion,” Dessi says. “That’s actually one of our strengths. Different industries teach people different ways of thinking, and bringing those perspectives together creates more interesting ideas and better problem-solving.”

This blend of experiences has helped shape Saint and Sofia into a collaborative and open-minded workplace where creativity is encouraged across every department — not solely within design or marketing teams.

“We’ve always wanted to build a company where people feel able to contribute ideas,” Dessi explains. “Innovation can come from anywhere.”

What Makes a Saint and Sofia Team?

As the company has grown, maintaining the culture of a smaller, close-knit team has remained incredibly important, especially across design and creativity.

“When you work within a growing business, every person genuinely makes a difference,” Dessi says. “That means we look for people who are self-motivated, collaborative and understand the impact their work has on the wider team.” Beyond skillsets and experience, Dessi believes shared values play a major role in shaping the company culture. “Fairness, creativity, quality and sustainability aren’t just words for us,” she explains. “We want people who genuinely connect with those values both professionally and personally.”

That culture of accountability and collaboration has helped Saint and Sofia maintain a strong sense of identity while continuing to grow rapidly over the last five years.

“There’s a huge amount of trust within the team,” Dessi says. “People are encouraged to take ownership of what they do and feel proud of the contribution they make.”

Supporting Women in Business

As a female-led company, supporting women’s progression within the workplace has always been deeply important to Dessi and the wider leadership team who really believe in fairness.

“At Saint and Sofia, we strongly believe women shouldn’t have to choose between career progression and family life,” she says. “Creating policies that genuinely support women through different life stages is incredibly important.”

The company introduced a six-month fully paid maternity leave policy as part of that commitment, alongside a flexible working culture designed to better support modern working life.

“Flexibility is essential,” Dessi explains. “People work best when they feel trusted and supported. Creating a happy and balanced workplace ultimately benefits everyone.”

Women continue to hold leadership roles across both senior and junior positions throughout the company, helping shape the creative and strategic direction of the brand as it grows.

Creativity Beyond Fashion

Although Saint and Sofia is known for its collections and campaigns, Dessi sees creativity as something that extends far beyond design itself.

“Creativity exists across every part of the business,” she says. “Whether someone is working in operations, customer experience, product development or marketing, there are always opportunities to improve things, solve problems and think differently.”

That mindset has become one of the defining parts of the company culture.

“Work should feel rewarding and inspiring,” Dessi explains. “Of course there are challenges, but there should also be space for learning, personal growth and enjoyment.” For Dessi, that balance between ambition and positivity is one of the things she values most about the company they’ve built. “We always say: ‘We like to have fun, but the work gets done,’” she laughs. “That genuinely sums up the atmosphere at Saint and Sofia.”

Looking Ahead

Five years after launching the brand, Dessi remains focused on continuing to build Saint and Sofia thoughtfully and sustainably while staying true to the company’s original values.

“We’ve grown significantly, but we still care deeply about maintaining the culture and principles we started with,” she says. “That’s incredibly important to us.” As Saint and Sofia continues to expand across fashion, retail and creative storytelling, Dessi believes the people behind the brand will always remain its greatest strength. “Ultimately, businesses are built by people,” she says. “We’re incredibly proud of the team we’ve created and excited about what comes next.”

At Saint and Sofia, quality, collaboration and fairness remain central to everything the brand does — values that continue to shape both the collections themselves and the workplace culture behind them.