Eye for design – Harley Street to icd
A most incredible journey saw Clare plucked from a successful Harley Street practice, climb a mountain (literally) and walk gently into the hearts and minds of the very people who would become longterm icd clients…
At just 16 years of age Clare’s father took her to a design studio and a flame was lit inside her that she carried throughout her adult years as she became a successful Harley Street contact lens practitioner. But her burning desire for a more creative outlet never diminished. When she was told she would not be able to exercise or carry anything of weight from a back problem, she was more determined than ever to prove her doctors wrong and see her design dreams take flight. As part of her training she met two of her first clients, ‘Zoisa Holder’ and the team at ‘Perfect Fit’.
Her goal was to climb Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to raise money for the St Margaret’s Hospice in Yeovil. Now fighting fit, Clare donned her 15 kilo backpack and joined 3 Afghan soldiers and 31 others to master the mountain. And when she was the first to reach the top the porters called her ‘Simba’ the lion. This trip was the beginning of her love affair with Tanzania and its people and with the help of an old school friend now residing in Tanzania, in the very same village from which Clare started her climb, her design dreams crossed an ocean. What Clare’s journey demonstrates is at the heart of i catching designs ethos; to be courageous enough to have a vision, to be brave enough to see that vision through, no matter what the obstacles, and to do so with passion, determination and integrity.
