Our Story

Home of The Original Alpaca Liner ™ and brainchild of Lisa Harrison Botham, a stylist and former award-winning magazine owner, The Little Finery was born out of a desire to give luxury the personal touch and to simplify the quest for beautiful heirloom quality gifts for mum, baby and bigger kids alike.

As an entrepreneurial mum of two little boys, Lisa is a compulsive planner, a lover of fashion, the arts, travel and fun. With a need for the city and a heart for the country, it’s her appreciation of both that reflects in her style and the way in which The Little Finery brand seamlessly adapts to reflect both wonderful ways of life. Her pieces can be adored in stately homes, Mayfair penthouses, cosy cottages and everywhere that memories are made.

The Little Finery products are made to be enjoyed and stand the test of time, so quality craftsmanship and timeless design lie at the heart of every product.

Our Alpaca

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Alpaca fur is one of the finest and softest in the world.

Our fur is 100% cruelty-free and ethically sourced from rural, family owned farms in the Andean region of Peru, where alpacas roam freely in their natural terrain.

When Lisa began researching the qualities of the alpaca fur it was deemed to be a more luxurious and a more desirable alternative to the very popular and highly coveted sheepskin. It is hypoallergenic, temperature regulating, fire and water resistant and ethically sourced but has the advantage of being lighter and easier to care for than sheepskin. Plus it is so much softer which led Lisa to think about how wonderful this fur would be against a baby’s delicate skin and therefore why couldn’t we use Alpaca for the same purposes as sheepskin? The idea of The Original Alpaca Liner ™ was realised and the Alpaca slipper designs quickly followed.

Alpacas spend their entire lives roaming freely in their natural habitat, being gently shorn by the farmers who care for them.As the livelihood of families living in these regions are dependant on farming and caring for these beautiful wild herds it is not viable for farmers to kill their alpacas for skins as they are very small and worth very little compared with shorn fleeces. As alpacas can live for 20 years their life-long shearing potential is of far greater value than a single pelt so it is said that Alpaca wool is the most sustainable and ethical on the planet.

Our cashmere

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Cashmere obsessed since she was a little girl, Lisa inherited her love of the material from both her grandmothers who shared a weakness for the finest yarns and advised her from an early age to invest wisely in quality classical pieces rather than quantity.

With a first baby blanket and her grandmother’s hand-beaded cardigans and pashminas still among her own most cherished possessions, Lisa hunted far and wide for the best value and quality yarn she could find for the range. Many samples were tried, tested and put through their paces by Lisa, her young boys and trusted family members until the finest and most suitable fibres were found.

Sourced from Inner Mongolia and then lovingly designed and spun on specialised Italian machinery our cashmere pieces can then be personalised with an array of different thread colours and monogram options.

Bespoke Joinery

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With a family background in architecture, design and build, Lisa has always appreciated and admired really good craftsmanship. She was on the hunt for a personalised and very special toy box for her sons at the same time as setting up The Little Finery and needed someone locally in North Yorkshire who could create her vision. When she found Phil his talent, professionalism and enthusiasm for the project made it obvious they should work together to co-create some wonderful heirloom quality pieces which could be loved and cherished for a lifetime.

Katie Larmour Irish Linen

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Katie and Lisa have been friends for over 15 years, having worked together both in front of and behind the camera lens during Lisa’s magazine days. As an admired artist and designer Lisa approached Katie to collaborate on The Little Finery and was honoured when she agreed.

A trusted and recommended purveyor of Irish Linen goods, as certified by the Irish Linen Guild, Katie Larmour Design specialises in creating luxury home accessories. Her cushions and nursery decorations, created exclusively for The Little Finery, are elegant, timeless and the perfect nod to Lisa’s own heritage.

Artisan made to the highest quality and craftsmanship from one of the last remaining linen mills still active in Ireland, there is also an attractive element of sustainability to Katie’s designs which source off-cuts and deadstock fabric from local mills and often use a portion of reclaimed beading. 

The Little Finery founder Lisa Harrison Botham