Fashion Buyer UK talked to creative director Jason Denham and UK managing director Terry Bates about product, business and life in one of the most innovative denim brands on the planet.
EXPLAIN THE CONCEPT BEHIND THE NEW BUILDING.
JD: We've wanted to open a store in London since we launched here but the location had to mirror the energy of the brand and the building needed to be able to tell the story of the brand. I believe Shoreditch has the same energy that we have in Amsterdam's 9-streets neighbourhood, which is where our head office and Dutch flagship store is located, as well as in Tokyo's Daikanyama area, the site of our Japanese flagship which opened in June. With this site we have appreciated the vintage and taken inspiration from it, and like our garments we have made it both modern and contemporary.
TB: We both fell in love with the building as soon as we saw it. Formerly a sewing factory the building has an 110 year-old history and has so much personality. Incredibly, we turned the build project around in just two months using our own team from Amsterdam. Now, we are left with a beautiful retail space on the ground floor, a womenswear showroom on the first floor, administrative offices on the second, and a wonderful light-drenched loft-space for the menswear showroom.
JD: The brand is becoming more defined with every season and still follows the same mantra which has held true since we first conceptualised the brand which is to 'worship tradition, destroy convention'. The biggest trend in the world right now is vintage. The way we approach the trend is to take inspiration from the archives but to destroy convention by reinterpreting vintage for the modern market.
HOW DOES THAT MISSION STATEMENT MANIFEST ITSELF TANGIBLY IN THE COLLECTION?
JD: One of our biggest design stories is called Re-cut. We have people from our team scouring the world for deadstock fabrics for the limited edition Re-cut range. As bizarre as it now sounds, someone in the 1850s decided to make trousers out of tent material. Subsequently, they decided to strengthen the seams by banging nails into them but in doing so those people created functional classics which are as relevant today as they were then. Today, we aim to use the same thinking in our collection. Every collection has a Mackintosh for example, but ours has an elasticated cable under a hidden channel which runs behind the button-holes. In doing so the coat becomes more articulated and the silhouette can be manipulated. The truth is in the detail and our collection is driven by new ideas. Our chinos are made using material from vintage Dutch Army Tents. The chino is based around a 1950s archive piece which we re-cut into a slimmer, more modern shape. We kept the Talon zipper and also include with every trouser the sewing kit which as standard issue to US troops became lovingly known as The Housewife. These trousers were launched exclusively in Present on Shoreditch High Street.
JD: The concept and ideas are exactly the same, the advantage now is that the scale of our growing international team enables us to do things better. Having said that, everything can be improved and we are taking every step at a time. We didn't come to the UK, for example, until we had found Terry. Similarly, we have no intention of launching in the US until we find the right people to work with.
WHAT ARE THE MOST COMMERCIALLY RELEVANT JEANS STYLES IN THE UK AT THE MOMENT?
TB: The strongest look for Denham The Jeanmaker in the UK is a mid-vintage wash but to our surprise virgin denim continues to grow in popularity. You only have to look around the streets here in Shoreditch to see that the appetite for dark virgin denim is still growing. In terms of silhouettes we are seeing a great response from the Skin style which is a friendly slim jean, the Grade which is a another tapered slim jean, and we're expecting a strong reaction from Filter, which is another tapered style which will launch in autumn 2011 and has more looseness in the leg leading into a cigarette-straight bottom.
WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM THE DESIGN TEAM FOR AUTUMN 2011?
JD: More of the same in terms of handwriting although the execution is becoming more texture-rich. The climate is changing. Our autumns are milder and we have to react to that. as a result we have spent a great deal of time developing our knitwear collection within which there will be far more depth next season. On denim washes, the mid-antique continues to drive sales commercially although our feeling is that clean-looking virgin denim will continue to grow.
HOW IMPORTANT TO THE BRAND'S UK GROWTH IS THE OPENING OF THIS STORE?
TB: It's absolutely critical. We want to create excitement in the brand and the opening of the store and showrooms is our first brand building reference point. Our customers, be they consumers or buyers, will come here and have their curiosity in Denham The Jeanmaker satisfied by an immersive and sincere retail or showroom experience.
HOW HAS THE UK MARKET REACTED TO DENHAM THE JEANMAKER?
TB: We have always been selective about our growth and have been honest with the market. Today we have 53 accounts. We could develop that to 240 but it's all about getting the brand into the right places and then keeping it there by an uncompromising attitude towards customer service. We don't want to be in every town and we're not arrogant enough to think that we will be the number-one brand but as long as we are creating excitement in what we are doing, and we are helping the retailers to make the right product selections for their stores, and we are educating their sales staff so that they can sell our brand with the same passion that we have, then I know we are ticking the right boxes.
WHERE IS DENHAM THE JEANMAKER'S POSITION PLOTTED IN THE INTERNATIONAL DENIM MARKET?
JD: The position of the power-player brands in the market is changing which is creating opportunities for new brands. The giants will always exist but there's a new opportunity for new brands to come in, make a statement, light up the market and get people excited. I believe the market is cyclical and moves in five year cycles. The last five years have been dominated by a Scandinavian look dominated by brands such as Nudie, Monkey Genes and Acne. The five years before that were led by the West Coast women's denim brands. And, before that the market was led by the Japanese led by brands such as Evisu. I believe that the next cycle will be led by Holland and more importantly Amsterdam. Why else would Levi's have moved its design team there? The market is in transition and it's up to us to take advantage of that transition.
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