My aunt Joyce Ridings, who has died of cancer aged 69, was a fashion designer with a clear vision of the transformative effect of well-designed clothes in beautiful fabrics. Her determination and focus meant that her business ran for 50 years, sometimes through periods of economic and personal difficulty.
She was born Joyce Clarke in Ockley, Surrey, and was always loyal to the north of England after moving there as a teenager in the 1950s. In 1964 she married her childhood sweetheart, Derek Ridings, who remained an enormous support throughout her life.
At the beginning of the 1960s, after attending Manchester College of Art and Design to study fashion, she began her business aged 19 in a small workshop in Manchester. Joyce had a signature look which was always present in her collections. At the height of her success, she was designing for Jaeger and selling to major high-street stores such as Fenwick, Selfridges and John Lewis. She also showed at fashion weeks in London, Paris and New York. Her longheld ambition was to open a flagship store in Manchester, which she realised towards the end of her life.
In 2011 a retrospective of her work was held at the Gallery of Costume in Manchester. BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour covered the exhibition and interviewed Joyce, which helped to give her the recognition she deserved. Joyce designed outfits for both the BBC broadcaster Jenni Murray and the poet Carol Ann Duffy.
Joyce had a strong character, was determined and driven in her working life and will be remembered for her positive outlook. She is survived by Derek and her sister Sylvia.