Q&A: Kim Winser, former Aquascutum chief executive and founder of new brand Winser London

Retail Week: Why have you decided to develop your new brand Winser London?

Kim Winser: I’m passionate about retail. I love products and I love the customer. It’s about trying to offer the best range in today’s lifestyle.

I’ve been working with private equity funds here and in the US and I realised there are so many businesses that are not keeping up to date with the digital world. 

Businesses have been built around the high street and online is often added as an appendage. I want online as the centre and to use the pop-ups where customers want to shop while using online to send [the product] straight to them.

From this I thought I would launch a brand that is online and has pop-up stores. When you have stores, you have to buy quite a bit in advance. When you’re online only it’s all about buying for the customer.

Also, I work direct with the yarn, garment and fabric suppliers, so there is nobody in-between, which means the business is sharp and responsive and we can react to the customer’s decisions.

Why premium product?

My career has been partially mid-market at Marks & Spencer and the partly top end when I worked at Pringle and Agent Provocateur.

I wanted to take the best of both. Taking the efficiency out of the mid-market but then I wanted to take the quality out of the better end.

I have really tried to cut out all the elements that were adding cost to the product and instead put it into the fabric, the yarn and the cut.

It would have been very hard for the retailer to operate this model pre-digital.

The range starts from £35 for a cotton t-shirt and goes up to £350 for a cashmere coat. I would estimate usually the garments would retail at double to triple that amount usually.

How many pop-up shops are you planning and where?

I haven’t decided yet. I’m in discussions about taking property now but the plan is to open one per month. I hope to open the first one before the end of March.

I’m talking to some quite different types of people that I wouldn’t necessarily call landlords. They’re people that own space where my customer might like to shop. We might use some interesting buildings for the pop-up shops but I don’t want to give too much away.

The site launches on February 15, what will it feature?

We will have an evolving style agenda on the site. We do have an editor-in-chief and will write about current trends, style edits and link in global events, so there is a little bit of news all the time and a constant communication to help support and style customers.

You developed your new business after seeing businesses were not keeping up with the digital age, what is your view on the recent collapse of HMV and Jessops?

My major worry is that when they’re looking at their balance sheet, how many of them take more money out of the product to rescue the business? I’ve tried to build a business that is very effective and very lean, so we can put everything into the garment.

I try not to look at it in a depressive way because there are equally good new businesses growing quite fast, for example, you have HMV and Jessops that have collapsed but then you have Net-a-Porter and Asos which are growing.  

I think it’s about building a business with tomorrow in sight.