Introduction
Roger Saul is a British designer and entrepreneur who founded Mulberry in Somerset in 1971. Before the company, he studied business at Westminster College, sold Victorian military clothing at Portobello Road and worked for John Michael Ingram’s Guys and Dolls boutique, where buying, display and fast-moving accessory trade became a practical education in fashion.
Saul began Mulberry with £500 from his parents and a family network that supplied administration, leather knowledge and labour. He designed the first belts, chokers and bags with Monty Cole, built production through Somerset outworkers, and developed the 1975 Hunting, Shooting, Fishing collection into a broader clothing and leather-goods identity. Under his combined design and executive leadership, Mulberry expanded into ready-to-wear, menswear, interiors, editorial publishing, export markets and branded retail.
His operational and creative authority ended in November 2002, although he retained the ceremonial title of Life President until 2004. Saul subsequently concentrated on Sharpham Park, organic spelt farming, hospitality and the development of Kilver Court. This later work continued his interest in land, production and English lifestyle, but it sat outside Mulberry’s post-founder design system.
Design ethos
Saul’s method joined market observation to the material culture of rural England. Early belts and chokers responded quickly to boutique demand, while later bags drew from game carriers, fishing equipment, military surplus and saddlery. Thick leather, brass hardware, tartan, tweed and waxed cotton were selected for function and ageing as much as surface effect.
He treated a fashion label as an environment rather than a sequence of isolated objects. Clothing, luggage, shop interiors, sporting events and Mulberry Life built a controlled image of English country life for urban and international consumers. The construction was commercially deliberate: apparently inherited tradition was developed through modern manufacturing, franchising and direct editorial contact.
His strongest designs kept utility visible. The cotton blouson with a leather collar, the 1975 holdall and later field-derived bags carried military and sporting structures into fashion without erasing their practical origins. That tension between robustness and polish became the archive used by every subsequent Mulberry studio.
Disclaimer
Career history
2002
Roger Saul was removed from operational and creative control in November 2002 during the change in shareholder and board authority. His later Life President title was ceremonial, so post-2002 products and collections must not be assigned to his authorship.
1971
Roger Saul founded Mulberry in Somerset in 1971 with £500 supplied by his parents, while Joan Saul became company secretary and organised early production. The shared foundation record distinguishes Roger’s principal design role from Joan’s financial, administrative and manufacturing work.
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