License Magazine - August 2007 - (Page 52) outlook PROFILE ’08 RETAILER Ben Sherman Goes Back to Its Roots The iconic British brand is on an international expansion trail as it rolls out stores across the globe and upgrades its collections. By Josephine Collins Early in July, a fashion show took place in England’s south coast seaside town of Brighton. The parade showcased Ben Sherman’s spring/summer 2008 collection for the company’s sales teams just as the wholesale collection went on sale. The show took the iconic British brand right back to its roots, for it was from Brighton that Arthur Bernard Sugarman launched a range of buttondown collar “Oxford” shirts onto the wholesale menswear market. That was back in 1963 when Mods took up the shirt as their uniform of choice and Ben Sherman established itself as one of the key “swinging ’60s” labels. Today the brand has come a long way with brand has consolidated its fashion lines into one international collection. While Ben Sherman has achieved niche status as a bridge-level heritage fashion label for both men and women across the globe, in the UK the collection was firmly placed in the middle market—and with a retail distribution to match. CEO Miles Gray says. “We’re upgrading the collection into one global range that will bring more fashion and an edgier personality to the UK collection. And in doing so, we are not neglecting our roots.” The new collection will have a smaller number of retail accounts in the UK as the company cleans up its wholesale distribution. At the moment the count is some 750 accounts in the UK and some 1,750 internationally, in all bringing in about a third of the company’s £130 million ($264 million) turnover. “It’s a big thing to drop the lower tiers of distribution in the UK,” says Gray, “but we’ve got to think about the long-term health of the brand.” It’s a tough call as the UK accounts for half of the brand’s revenue. For Gray, the future of the brand has to be in a market sector that places it “with plenty of clear air between us and the value end of the market.” “In the shorter term we’re likely to develop licensed product regionally—but always keeping control ourselves.” Miles Gray, CEO, Ben Sherman Growing a Licensing Business an international portfolio of stores, full women’s as well as menswear collections, and an enviable set of licenses that place Ben Sherman firmly into lifestyle branding. The relevance of Brighton for the label is that it has just reached a new stage in its international development. After many years of struggling with a somewhat split personality in its consumer perception and collection content inside and outside the UK, the Part of differentiating the brand and moving it away from the vulnerable middle market has been the development of Ben Sherman’s licensed product business, which is run from the London office by a team of three, working directly with licensees. The UK and Irish markets have Ben Sherman product in leather jackets, watches, bags, belts and accessories, underwear, suits, homewear, and the newest brand extension, toiletries and fragrances. 52 www.licensemag.com August 2007 http://www.licensemag.com
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