Three
words spring to mind when Mulberry appears in front of my fashion savvy eyes;
heritage, luxury and British. 1971 was the year when a flourishing story began
of the soon to be one of the most iconic fashion brands. A certain Roger Saul
came up with the name whilst walking around the grounds of his school, to which
featured the Mulberry tree. Since then we have been blessed with, the
Bayswater, Alexa and the Del Ray leather handbags; Mulberry’s expertise in
leather merchandise continues to make an outstanding presence within the UK and
on an international scale.
Mulberry’s
designs each have their own personality, each creation has their own name and
is recognised by their individual shape. Everybody in the fashion business
knows when they see an ‘Alexa’ or a ‘Bayswater’, they see the beautifully
hand-made creations that suits the practicality of women and defines the
wonders of English heritage. I would
like to take you through a journey of Mulberry’s ever-growing history and pull
out some of the brand’s most influential moments.
In
the brand’s 43-year history, there was one key moment that began the Mulberry
frenzy; a wonderful British collaboration with Luella Bartley produced the
‘Gisele’ bag in 2002, this iconic moment would prove to be one of many for the
Mulberry franchise. In the same year, the ‘Bayswater’ was made and thankfully
this beautiful masterpiece of craftsmanship described by Jess Cartner-Moley
at The Guardian as, “a kind of hybrid of a traditional English doctor's bag” still
proves to be one of the most popular creations of Somerset’s very own. I am
very lucky to be a proud owner of a ‘Bayswater’ in black, (a little trip to
Bicester Village in 2013 saw me buy a birthday treat for myself). It is just a
beautiful piece of luxury, I only take mine out on special occasions simply
because I know I will not be able to afford another one any time soon, so I am
making those special moments count. 2008 appeared to be the year where Mulberry
began to really make its mark on the fashion hierarchy. Emma Hill was named as
the new creative director, who bought a fresh and modern feel to the brand’s
traditional heritage, and the company as a whole was becoming increasing
successful, nothing was going to stop the overwhelming achievements of Roger
Saul’s fashion baby. The ‘Alexa’ bag was born the following year, named after
the British model; Alexa Chung, another famous face was added to the “named”
bag collection. Up until now, a pattern seemed to be occurring in the Hill
enterprise, triumph, success and achievement and that wasn’t going to stop
there. Every year a particular fashion awards ceremony held in London, known as
British Fashion Awards sees every fashion brand strutting their stuff on the
red carpet, hoping to pick up the ‘Designer Brand of the Year Award’. Beating
her fellow peers; Victoria Beckham and Co, Emma Hill was the proud and deserved
winner after her amazing takeover at Mulberry. In 2011, the figures spoke for
themselves, “in the six months to 30 September, the last period for
which full figures are available, pre-tax profits at Mulberry jumped by 207%,
from £1.5m to £4.7m”, an added bonus was when Mulberry won Best
Accessories Designer at 2011's Elle Style Awards.
Emma Hill’s takeover at Mulberry has proven to be, one of the best relationships
between creative director and brand ever to be seen within the fashion
industry.
Mulberry Factory Shop, Shepton Mallet, Somerset.
Sadly in June 2013, the announcement that Emma Hill would be leaving her
role as creative director came as a shock to the fashion press. 5 years of
breath-taking designs in bags and ready-to-wear clothing, Mulberry has
propelled itself to one of the most iconic fashion brands across the
world. But the show must go on as they
say; planning of opening a second factory is on the cards, overseas expansion
but still mainly concentrating on the UK and the Europe are just some of the
ideas for the future of Mulberry. Chief executive Bruno Guillon quoted on the
future of the brand, "five years from now the UK will
remain our core customer... the 'Made in England' label is absolutely crucial
in our strategy for the future".
Mulberry
is one of my favourite fashion brands, the fact it is has the true English
hallmark is a bonus, but reading articles stating that the future of the
company remains with the original customer, is a real delight to read. The UK
customer will never be forgotten; I sense a family of British folk is and will
continue to being created with the likes of the Del Ray and the next future
phenomenon.
Finally….
During
March 2012, my mum and me travelled to Somerset to visit The Mulberry Factory
Shop in Shepton Mallet, which originally was an old school building. Set in the
most inaudible of areas, small winding roads and picturesque views from the
highest point. As we walked around the shop, all that could be heard was the ever
so small whispers from individuals who would discuss of which bag they would choose,
or the chip clops of shoes across the beautiful beige wooden floor. It didn’t
feel like a shop, it felt like I was walking around a small museum of luxury.
At each end of the building there was something old, something new, something
different, three or so curtain-covered changing areas, which was all surrounded
by beautiful modern décor, nonetheless I could still feel the presence of the traditional
structure. I did eventually buy a deep purple tank top (in the sale
nevertheless), but I knew that I couldn’t have walked out of the shop without a
Mulberry shopping bag.
Check out this blog post on: Hail Style.com
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