You won't find Marina Phipps' bespoke retro clothing business in one of the shiny business parks at Chatham Maritime or the historic dockyard. Over the past 12 years she has built up a worldwide customer base for her American 1950s clothing from the basement cutting room of her home in Maidstone Road, Chatham.

It is a family business. While Ms Phipps, 59, designs and cuts all the clothes, her daughter, Wendy (above right), works full-time on the business's administration and finance. They employ a part-time seamstress.