Superdry’s awesome party last night still looms heavy in our office. Well who could say no? It’s not often that you get to live it up at Battersea Power Station while freshfaced band Coves soundtrack a mega catwalk show and then party late into the night…even for us fashion event addicts. Before the booze flowed too heavily, we sat down for a few minutes with James Holder, one half of the top brass of the Superdry empire to discuss a meteoric 10 years of the brand…and where they’re heading next.
Prime Planet: Superdry’s take on Tokyo was the original inspiration for the brand; what was it about Japan that you wanted to communicate?
James Holder: I think because Julian and I had such a love and respect for Japanese design and imagery and Julian came from a vintage Americana clothing background; we both had this shared love for British tailoring. So we combined them all together to create the Superdry aesthetic. Japanese design for me, imagery-wise, is the most dynamic on the planet; it’s absolutely incredible. It’s constantly evolving, always pushing the boundaries and I like to think that that threads through into the Superdry ethos, because we’re always pushing too, doing unexpected things with clothing and products. And, I would say that a very similar thing to what the Japanese do with their designs. They’re always pushing aren’t they?
PP: Absolutely! There’s always a twist to the Japanese aesthetic, and it always seems to be quite garment-focused, with really strong materials.
JH: And even everything from packaging to when you’re walking down the street and the signage is amazing; they have a real blend of ultra-heritage with a very dynamic, contemporary approach. It’s a real amazing blend, and you’ve got to respect that.
PP: A lot of your collaborations are focused on “Britishness”. How do you incorporate that with the Japanese influences as well?
JH: I think because we’ve got such a strong graphic identity! We’re such a proud British brand. We try to use that Britishness without putting bloody Union Jacks everywhere. We don’t want to look like…
PP: You don’t want to overdo it!
JH: Correct. So what we try to do is do really intelligent collaborations with British brands who share our passion for quality, individuality and often quirkiness – which is really important to us. So, we just enhance our Britishness, still staying true to our homage to Japanese design and American look and feel.
PP: Who’ve you got your eye on for the next collaboration?
JH: I honestly cannot say, but as and when we meet likeminded people. They have to be likeminded people because we are a very ‘people’ company. There are two reasons why the company works so well, and they are the products and the people.
PP: I think you get a get a real sense of that when you’re in the headquarters. Everyone’s really chatty and friendly, and you feel like you can approach people.
JH: Exactly. When you see an event like this, it is so important to our existence. People are so important to us and that threads through Julian’ and business model for Superdry from the start; it’s such a genuine thing and we love what we do, that’s attracted great people who we learn from and they attract great people and it’s just grown. It’s a really Apple moment for the fashion industry.
PP: The expansion has been enormous as well, particularly internationally. What’s your focus in that direction? Are you going down the big semi-emerging markets like Brazil, Russia, India and China?
JH: We’re being so calculated. Europe is a massive focus for us, but we are entering into all territories, but the timing has to be right. We are now such a formidable player now and we have to open with a bang. You go to our Regent Street store and that experience is just so Superdry. So, we need to be able to duplicate that in small format to big boxes around the world, but it has to have integrity. We will not do it until we can do it correctly.
PP: It’s a big question, but what’s been your highlight over the last 10 years?
JH: I would probably say, the first highlight was probably seeing Beckham in his calendar wearing all the stuff, when we only had about 5 t-shirts on sale. That was probably the first big hit for us. But Jules and I are like kids, we still phone each other when we see a Superdry project around the world. We hope that love for the brand just never goes away! There’re so many different experiences, and because we’re so varied and wide-reaching with so many different looks, it’s so hard to pinpoint particular times.
PP: Finally, where would you see the Superdry brand in 10 years’ time?
JH: Well, I think we’ve had the most amazing 10 years. We’ve got such a passion for progress. We never stop. Womenswear has come along in leaps and bounds and so we’re in a really great place with womenswear, so the major major focus product-wise is denim. We can become a worldwide true denim brand. Denim’s on our horizon.
– Interview by Seb Law
