A Cockenzie mum and entrepreneur is celebrating after her business won acclaim at the Scottish Fashion Awards.

Molly Anthoney, 24, is the co-owner of AR+CO, a company which prides itself on providing ethical fashion – creating products that utilise vegan leather and sustainable production methods.

AR+CO was founded by Borders-based sisters Amy Hardie and Stacey Hardie-Croan in 2020 during the first Covid-19 lockdown. Molly joined the business a year ago.

The team collected the Fashion Start Up of the Year awarded at the ceremony, hosted by the Scottish Fashion Association.

They were also shortlisted as one of the finalists for Fashion Brand of the Year.

All three women run the business alongside their day-to-day jobs, juggling the pressures of work, study and being young mums to run a brand that is turning heads in the world of fashion.

It now boasts a full range of sustainable, high-quality vegan leather accessories and has customers from all corners of the globe, with thousands of AR+CO bags being sold across Scotland and the world.

Molly spoke of her delight at claiming the award.

She said: “This is a massive achievement for the brand, alongside celebrating our recent growth and pride surrounding the circumstances in which we run the business, alongside young children and full-time jobs.

“We are absolutely thrilled to have been recognised with these shortlists and even more so our new title of Fashion Start Up of the Year. We are eager to see what the future holds and are so grateful to our loyal customers for their ongoing support of our brand.”