Brandlove. The new monogamy: what brands learn from

BRAND LO VE

Brands are reconsidering their position. The era of threatening others with overpowering in-house retail operations is over. After all, megalomania in the form of retail space excesses has been proven to be rather unhealthy by a string of quite spectacular corporate collapses. Instead, mono-brand concepts are slowly but surely becoming a real touchpoint between brands and customers. Brand stores with heart and brains, presented by style in progress. Text: Isabel Faiss, Martina Müllner-Seybold, Nicoletta Schaper. Photos: Interviewees

“H ow can a retailer possibly have a passion for 40 or 50 brands?” asks Mark de Lorme. The Dutch entrepreneur is the founder of Penn & Ink N.Y. In his home country, he has also launched brand stores in strategic locations. “Not because we believe we can do a better job, but because we know that customers, who have developed loyalty and love for our brand, are looking for a place where they can deepen these feelings. I have great respect for excellent retailers. As a manufacturer, however, I increasingly find myself wondering whether retailers actually respect what their suppliers do.” Penn & Ink N.Y throws its entire experience into the ring in its own stores in the Netherlands. There are plants, fragrances, beautiful lucky finds, and plenty of space to utilise creatively. Penn & Ink N.Y hosts live performances and yoga classes. It also offers space for external brands that close gaps. “There is, however, merely room for a handful of brands. I can work with them in depth and get enthusiastic about them. I can build longterm relationships with customers, just like the ma

Penn & Ink N.Y has no interest in establishing anonymous brand temples, but strives to create stores with heart and soul. That’s why, from time to time, the interior is pushed aside to make way for the mats required for a yoga session.

jority of end customers do. Many return two or three years later and want another blazer by the brand, because they loved it and it fitted perfectly. I believe that it is negligent to send them home disappointed, just because the supplier in question has been thrown out of the range. That basically tells customers that their choice was bad.” Naturally, that is also a huge challenge for brands. “There has to be a harmonious balance between consistency and surprise, which is a challenge for every brand. Penn & Ink N.Y takes this very seriously. At the same time, it’s easy for us to do, because our aim has always been to create favourite pieces. Once you believe that you have created the perfect blazer or jogging pants, you don’t want to kick them out of the collection a season later.”

Weber + Weber Sar- toria is relocating to Vienna: Christian and Manuel Weber have chosen a hidden palace as the new headquarters. It features a new store too.

CLOSE CUSTOMER CONTACT

Christian and Manuel Weber of Weber + Weber have every reason to pat themselves on the back. By selecting the right partners, they quickly positioned their slow fashion line at significant retailers across Central Europe, added a women’s collection to their repertoire, and created a strong additional collection for the Alpine region under the name Josef & Anna. So everything is hunky dory? By no means. “When retailers start calling in April about wanting to send Bermuda shorts back due to a lack of turnover, I could lose faith. Especially when we are still drowning in snow at our studio in Vorarlberg,” says Christian Weber. When arguments fail, only radical solutions can help. For Weber + Weber, this means total abandonment of all seasons. “The only people we want to listen to are our customers. We add small, seasonal capsules to our regular collections. In the future, we will deliver Bermuda shorts when customers feel like buying Bermuda shorts,” laughs Christian Weber. “Naturally, we invite fashion retailers to support this model. If this approach is reason enough for some to turn their backs on Weber + Weber, then we’ll accept that. We need to direct our own brand. We need to realise our own script.” This new script also envisages a change of location for the Webers. They’ve packed everything up, including the dog, and are heading for Vienna, where they plan to open a Weber + Weber studio in the first half of 2020. “The sewing machine will hum while we serve ‘Kärntner Reindling’ every Friday,” smiles Christian Weber. “Many events involving retail partners, as well as personal contact with our online customers, have made us understand how much depth our fans desire. We are a tangible brand. Every single button has a background story. That’s exactly what we want to do,” says Christian Weber. Can this concept be replicated? “I don’t know, but that isn’t the point anyway. We are not taking this step because we want to be the next Gerry Weber. It is because we love our brand.”

PREMIUM KNITWEAR SINCE 1973

The shoe is an integral design element of every Floris van Bommel store: as a screen, in a mirror, or as a relief in the ceiling – as is the case in this store in Stuttgart.

IN HARMONY

Floris van Bommel, the Creative Director of Floris van Bommel and responsible for the design of the footwear brand’s twelve stores, knows that simply replicating a concept umpteen times is not sufficient. Of course, the interior design features recurring details in line with the CI. The shoe, for example, is such a recurring design element, but it is always supplemented with playful details to lend the respective store its own identity. “We don’t want the distance that typical luxury brand stores create,” Florian van Bommel stresses. “We prefer the tongue-in-cheek approach of a friendly, open atmosphere to excessive seriousness.” Nevertheless, the Floris van Bommel stores are not only the face of the brand, but also a vital point of contact with the customer. “They are an excellent source of direct customer feedback. It is different to what our multi-brand partners can provide,” says Commercial Director Pepijn van Bommel. “Our retail partners benefit from this input too, because we share our experiences with them – we incorporate them into our collections.”

Of the three brothers who run Floris van Bommel, Pepijn van Bommel is the one who is most present. He recently toured all of Germany by train and visited the five stores. “Although we represent a unique image as a brand, we also listen to the different opinions and wishes expressed by our store employees. We grant them the freedom to adapt the store to local needs. However, it needs to be adapted harmoniously. I am thrilled that it seems to be working.”

Dondup has always had a loyal fan club among retailers. They are more than willing to give the brand room for dedicated in-store corners.

NEW IMAGE INITIATIVE

“An excellent image store is as valuable to us as our own shop. The commitment is enormous and it allows us to create an authentic image of our brand,” says Monique Soeterboek of Dondup. In her capacity as Managing Director for Germany and International Sales Area Manager, she is aware of the immense potential that has allowed the brand to establish itself in the German-speaking market without its own images stores. Dondup has established an extremely loyal fanbase with the help of individual wholesale customers. It still thrives on the fact that the brand has a certain insider status. If one chooses to select a random example of a prime reference customer, one might come across Ingrid Dörr from Heilbronn. However, Dondup is not a brand to rest on its laurels. “Dondup still has enormous potential in northern Europe, especially in the German-speaking area. We currently have approximately 100 customers each for the women’s and men’s collections respectively. While we are still expanding our presence in some regions, we have already started selecting in others – both online and offline.”

Monique Soeterboek is also aware of how important it is to have your own stores in order to present the brand as an unfiltered product range within an appropriate image frame. However, Dondup currently only runs a single store in Milan. “Particularly in terms of awareness levels, own stores at strategically valuable hubs would be important for us to facilitate the support of our long-standing customers in the German-speaking market with concise communication.” She predicts a modest rollout, but also mentions the homework Dondup still has yet to do. “We are already very advanced in terms of product control. We are in the process of improving our merchandising concept and optimising our timing.”