Turnbull & Asser have appointed Becky French, founder of Marwood London, as their new Creative Director.
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| Becky French who has been appointed Creative Director at Turnbull & Asser |
I've long admired what Becky has done at Marwood so wanted to see how she plans to approach her new role:
Becky, congratulations on your appointment as Creative Director, what are your responsibilities and how do you see your role in this post?
Thank you David. I am set to oversee all the creative output at Turnbull & Asser; primarily the product (which is my background) but also the photoshoots, social, windows, stores, etc. We are a small team here but all very driven and whilst it may take time to implement all the changes we want to see, we have a shared vision in how we want to form and develop the visual identity of Turnbull & Asser.
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| Turnbull & Asser AW19 |
You're already designed T&A's AW19 collection - what themes have you worked on with this collection?
I had just started at Turnbull when I began working on AW19 and had not long moved back to London after living away for a few years. I was inspired by London and the feeling of being a visitor here again. I had a refreshed energy for the city.
I was reading about the upcoming exhibitions coming to the Tate and saw that a new Van Gogh exhibition was coming to the Tate Britain. On a personal note, seeing Van Gogh’s sketches and paintings in person in Amsterdam when I was about 12 was a moment I remember. I was inspired and fascinated by the colour, texture and process and I instinctively liked it. This latest exhibition (although not out until the year after) made me research the theme and found it was focussed on a short time that Van Gogh stayed in London and took inspiration from fellow artists like Francis Bacon.
The research led me down a path of interesting colour combinations and a mood for the shoot. In terms of product, we developed new shirt fits like the tailored fit and weekend fit (with our in-house bespoke pattern cutter George) and introduced new tailoring and outerwear pieces to complement the centre focus of all our collections… the shirt.
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| Turnbull & Asser, 'we are shirtmakers and tiemakers.' |
Are you taking T&A in a new direction? How do you see their collections developing in the near future?
I don’t think of it as a new direction but an evolved one. The foundations of Turnbull & Asser are so strong and steeped in history and authenticity – I feel like my job is to pull out these qualities and speak to them in all that we make and develop.
We have been revisiting our core values as a brand and it will help to guide decisions and future direction. It is important to be forward thinking and progressive, otherwise we won’t last another 130 odd years. We haven’t been around this long by staying the same.
I see the collections being centred around the shirt – we are shirtmakers and tie makers - with our own workrooms which we are incredibly proud of. We want to use these skills and in-house knowledge to continue to make the best shirts - for all occasions. We need to respond to how people live life – which is no longer just an office job.
That doesn’t mean abandoning the formal shirt by any means - we own that - however I think we can offer more variety and relevant product for how people live life now. We need to speak to our existing customers and be a reliable go-to for them but also open the doors to new people. If you own one shirt in your life that is crafted with excellence, it should be a Turnbull & Asser shirt but that could be a casual weekend shirt, or a perfect white shirt for a special event.
Who do you see as the typical T&A customer?
Our customers tend to be very loyal and have high expectations for quality. We have high profile customers from royalty to rock stars but day-to-day our team meets good natured, interesting people who travel for work and come to Turnbull for a reliable place to kit out their wardrobes. The core customer knows and respects traditional menswear and enjoys dressing up to those values.
You founded Marwood London - will you still be involved with that?
Yes for sure. I founded Marwood almost 10 years ago and it was my full-time job for years. Running that business and seeing it grow has been an incredible experience and I am especially proud of the wholesale customers and direct customers that we gained in that time – but it felt like the right time for a change. Our ties, mohair socks, scarves etc are still available online (www.marwood.life) and continue to serve some loyal customers.
Marwood has had a lot of heart and soul go in to it over the years but it no longer needs to be my central focus. I feel that Turnbull can get my full energy now with a brilliant team to support me.
