WHAT'S THE STORY
The Future – Who?
MEINDL AUTHENTIC LUXURY
“THESE ARE NOT SEASONAL PRODUCTS!” Meindl Authentic Luxury has deep roots. The Meindl dynasty is ranked 16th among the oldest German businesses. Anyone interested in traditional “lederhosen” knows Meindl. The style that Markus Meindl has introduced into the company does not need to shy away from comparison with fashion brands. The Meindl Authentic Luxury stores are the perfect place to prove it. Interview: Martina Müllner-Seybold. Photos: Meindl
Markus, in which way can running your own stores help? It helps you get out of a drawer, so to speak. Our retail partners have a certain notion of what they buy our products for, and we get stuck in that context. We need our own stores to prove that long Meindl “lederhosen” also look great with a white shirt and a cool pair of shoes. Your Meindl Authentic Luxury stores are not mono-brand in nature. You deliberately mix your products with other labels. Exactly, for two reasons. On the one hand, I have sincere respect for these companies, which are mostly similarly positioned businesses that also attach great importance to quality and integrity. On the other hand, it affords me an opportunity to show our customers how they can combine a Meindl leather jacket, or our biker jacket, in a manner that allows them to wear the pieces day after day. All our products are designed to be used frequently for years and decades. This is how I define clothing. This stands in stark contrast to how the fashion industry presents itself at the moment. Everything is made for the moment, not for eternity. That is a completely distorted image. If you go out into the world, you see that the majority does not subscribe to this approach – even though that is suggested to us all the time. How many people really dress according to the latest trends? There may be a few, but the entire industry seems to bend to their will. I certainly do not need to attribute a season to one of our blazers, jackets, or trousers and have no interest in reducing the price a few weeks later. These are not seasonal products! 118
style in progress
He has emancipated himself from his roots, which is probably why he is so rooted. With the Meindl Authentic Luxury stores, Markus Meindl has created the scope for his brand to be placed into new contexts.
What is your advice for the retail trade? Abandon seasons? I do not want to give the retail trade any advice at all, because I find that presumptuous. Those who are currently successful – and there are quite a few out there – are doing well because they have attitude. They have the guts to temporarily return a beautiful leather dress to the warehouse instead of reducing the price. What does Meindl do with goods that are not sold? We throw nothing away. We are in the lucky position to be able to make something new out of everything. If a piece really does not sell, we simply change it. We are also more than happy to repair or adjust pieces that customers bring to us. If it is a piece from the 1980s or the cottage style era, then we turn it into a bag. (laughs)
