Sharai Meyers – Purple Dragon

Sharai Meyers has been lots of things in her time – a lawyer, model, fashion muse, interior designer, and managing director – but ‘hover mom’ was never meant to be one of them.

When she became a mother three years ago, it was already a controversial time. She was seven years into a business with designer Roland Mouret, responsible for turning around what was a cottage enterprise into a global fashion brand. Then Mouret walked out.

It was a split that shocked the fashion world, with neither side ever revealing the reason behind. All Meyers will say now is: “We had six years of really good times and a year when things weren’t so good.”

Mouret’s departure left Meyers with much more time to focus on impending motherhood, which led to a number of realisations, such as how child-unfriendly the capital was, and starting a brand new business.

“London can be quite an alienating place with small kids and I realised there was nowhere to go and hang out with my child that wasn’t a dusty church hall,” says Meyers, who hails from Scotland and now has two boys, Conor and Lucas, under the age of three.

“I also found myself turning into a hover mom and I hated that. You want your children to be able to learn and experience things, and the only way they can make a good decision if they get to make some decisions. Well, they can’t do that if you’re constantly hovering over them all the time. I realised there must be a better way to do things.”

Not able to find any alternatives, Meyers set about creating some. She came up with the concept of Purple Dragon, a private members club for children aged 0-12 offering anything and everything – educational, developmental and fun in one location – along with a few perks for the parents.

“Fashion is one of those jobs that sounds more glamorous than it is. It is really tough, very demanding, with long, long hours.”

Children have access to Mandarin and Spanish lessons, arts and drama classes, cooking and computers, gardening and mini golf, music studios and ‘chill out’ zones. Parents, meanwhile, can interact with their kids as much as they like at Purple Dragon, or take a little time out for themselves.

Mums can have massages, get their nails done or take cooking classes while Dads can watch the football or read the papers. And an organic restaurant situated onsite, and run by a Michelin star chef, gives families an opportunity to come together and eat great food in a child-friendly environment.

It took two years for Meyers to launch the first Purple Dragon (named after a story book character from her youth) in Battersea last November. But she’s already planning the second in north London and intends to roll out nationwide at some point, and she is frequently approached by people about international franchises.

But that’s just the beginning. There’s also her intention to launch other, standalone Purple Dragon restaurants to help celebrate rather than tolerate families eating out together in the UK. And work is underway to bring her Purple Dragon characters - manga-style animations with a London twist - to life with story books and children’s clothing.

“The only way your child can learn is if they get to make some decisions. And they can’t do that if you’re constantly hovering around.”

Meyer doesn’t do things by halves, but then she never has. She started her career in a legal aid practice after studying law at university. “I never wanted to do commercial law, I always wanted to do criminal law and it was a real eye opener.” When she was scouted by a modelling agency, she jumped ship thinking it sounded like a lot more fun and a good opportunity to travel. Though she admits now: “I was rubbish at it, really not cut out for it at all.”

In the mid-90s, she met her partner Andre, moved to London and set up her own management consultancy in the City, providing IT solutions to firms. “It sounds really dull,” she laughs, “but I enjoyed aspects of it.”

She sold that in 2000, took some time out to learn Italian and photography, and then happened across Mouret. He was a friend of a friend and once they started talking, they couldn’t stop. “It got to the stage where my husband said you guys should really work together if you’re going to spend this much time discussing it.”

Along with being in business together, Meyer also became Mouret’s muse. And it was a fantastic few years, she says, making fashion headlines with the Galaxy dress, attending the Oscars and jet setting across the globe. But she doesn’t miss it now. “Fashion is one of those jobs that sounds more glamorous than it actually is. It is really tough, very demanding, with long, long hours. Although one of the great things is that you’re working on a new project every few months.”

She has incorporated this element into Purple Dragon, once again forecasting a hot trend, and channelling the business in many different directions. “I feel like one of those very bad James Bond villains with an evil global plan. All I need is a cat!” she laughs.

But it’s a tough economic climate to take over the world. When they launched, newspaper headlines read ‘Worst economic climate since 1929’, and she freely admits that it’s ‘a different economy from when I started planning this two years ago’. But she’s also noticed that people aren’t cutting back too much on their childcare spend.

With a basic membership that starts at £23 a week, or under £1,200 a year, and five per cent of everything spent inside the club going to a charity that ‘builds safe environments for children living in dangerous and violent communities’, it’s been a surprising hit. And then unsurprising in other ways.

It’s a place that takes the hard work out of parenting and injects a little fun instead. But it’s not only offering kids the best facilities and a diverse range of opportunities, it’s also a place where parents can come, even for half an hour, to get some illusive alone-time, engage with their kids in an easy environment or enjoy a meal.

How hasn’t this been thought of before? “I do get a lot of mothers who say they had this idea and it’s exactly how they would have done it, which always makes me happy,” Meyers says.

It’s no surprise though that it was Meyers who took up the challenge. Vibrating with energy, model skinny and with no time to hover, it takes a certain type of person to keep all this going. Sharai Meyers is clearly up to the job.

Purple Dragon is located on Alexandra Avenue, Battersea Park, London SW11 4FN. For more information, visit  www.pupledragonplay.com or call 020 7801 8688.

By Barbara Walshe