Free Spirit

'She just makes clothes that people like to wear' - Grace Coddington

Reading like a real-life Daisy Jones and the Six, Tanya Sarne's story is so much more than simply an account of incredible international fashion success (and excess). The child of immigrant parents, her life ranged from the London of the Swinging Sixties, to the glamour and darkness of Hollywood, to virtual destitution and abandonment with two small children in a Brazilian fishing village before she even dreamt of starting her own business. Hers is a tale of extraordinary resilience, of second and third chances capped by global fashion success as the founder of Ghost.

From busking with Andrew Loog Oldham before he managed the Rolling Stones, to being invited to stay with Sharon Tate the night of the Manson murders, to being (with her daughter and Lynne Franks) the inspiration for Absolutely Fabulous, Tanya is one of those people who seems to have fitted more into one life than most of us would fit into nine.

Above all though she is that still all too rare thing, a female entrepreneur who achieved true global success solely as a result of her own hard work and talent and entirely on her own terms.

'If there's a woman out there who doesn't have an old Ghost dress hanging in her wardrobe can you please tell me exactly what you were wearing in the nineties?' - Alyson Walsh, @thatsnotmyage

'You just wanted to be part of Tanya's gang because she was quite magnetic...And she was really kind too. And really funny. She put a good crowd together. And she's honest.' - Sam McKnight

'Tanya had an amazing life in Hollywood. She was a real survivor. And then she sort of knew nothing about fashion and she found herself in the fashion business just to pay the rent and survive. And then from there, she built up her own business. It's an amazing, remarkable success story.' - Lynne Franks

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