Where there's a Wills...

I can’t think of another retailer of its size which generates as much excitement in the industry as Jack Wills, but as I’ve blogged before that its founder Peter Williams (not to be confused with the ex-Selfridges boss of the same name) has always proved elusive. So I was particularly excited to get an invitation to the launch of a new flagship store for its more mature brand Aubin & Wills in Shoreditch on Thursday night.

I looked particularly out of place in ultra-trendy Shoreditch in my suit - although I did remove my tie by way of a concession - but the store was well worth the trip down to the wilds of the East. It’s on three levels with the product on the ground floor, an art gallery upstairs and an extremely comfortable cinema in the basement. The design is industrial - the store is located in a former warehouse which had been being used as a squat - and the VM is really imaginative. I particularly liked a wall decorated with old fashioned dial telephones.

Aubin & Wills is aimed at an older customer - 25-35 - and like Jack Wills, some of the price points are really punchy - a holdall I picked up was £300. But it’s hard to argue with the positioning of the brands when they’ve achieved such success with the public school set, and Williams clearly understands his market. It’s about a lifestyle - that’s why Jack Wills proved so successful starting out in Salcombe, and why the new Aubin store features the gallery and cinema.

Williams seemed a nice guy. He doesn’t like comparisons with Abercrombie & Fitch, which Jack Wills is often described as a UK version of, and insists he has no plans to float, despite appointing City PR firm Brunswick, who seem to be the choice of every retailer planning to float.

There are big ambitions though, with the first stores in the US having just opened. The challenge, as always for a fashion brand which is particularly of the moment, is to keep focussed and keep reinventing so that a sustainable business model is built. It’s the problem which has always dogged French Connection and is probably the biggest issue which was raised during Supergroup’s float process.

But Williams is aware of that risk and crucially knows his customer really well. There is a market for quintessentially British gear for posh kids here and also overseas, and the quality of the product and the theatre in the stores make the prices palatable to what is not fundamentally a price-sensitive market. The Aubin & Wills brand also means customers who’ve grown up with Jack Wills as a teenager should graduate to its big brother brand.

It’s going to remain one to watch for a long time to come, and if you’re passing through Shoreditch the store on Redchurch Street is well worth a visit.