About Cath Kidston (UK)

Founded in London in the 1990s, the label built its name on floral and vintage-inspired prints applied across bags, homeware and clothing. After the company entered administration, the brand, website and intellectual property were bought by Next, and it now trades under that ownership.

What that means in practice is that the prints and the product categories continue, while the retail operation sits inside a much larger business.

What they sell

Bags and luggage, purses and accessories, womenswear and nightwear, children's clothing and accessories, bedding and homeware, kitchen and tableware, and stationery.

Coated cotton bags and oilcloth are the signature product, and they are the reason the brand has a second-hand market at all.

Living with coated cotton

The coating is what makes these bags wipeable and shower-resistant, and it is also what fails first. Creasing the same fold repeatedly cracks it, so store bags loosely rather than folded flat under something heavy.

Clean with a damp cloth rather than in a machine. Washing a coated bag softens and lifts the coating, and it cannot be put back.

For unlined cotton items, wash cool and inside out. Strong prints fade fastest at high temperatures and in direct sun.

Buying a print-led brand sensibly

Prints are seasonal and retired. If a pattern matters to you across several items, buy them together rather than assuming the print will return next year.

Check the print placement on the product photograph. On a bag cut from patterned fabric, no two pieces are identical, and the one that arrives will not match the photograph exactly.

Archive prints reappear from time to time, which is worth knowing before paying a premium on a resale site.

Using a Cath Kidston discount code

Enter the code at checkout and check whether it covers homeware as well as fashion, since the two halves of this range are often promoted separately. Sale and archive lines are the usual exclusions.