Cutting edge British designers who specialise in quality silk ties and accessories are responding to the boom in internet shopping by selling on line and shunning the more traditional department stores after becoming fed up being treated in a shoddy manner.
Shane McCoubrey, Neil Bottle, Cressida Bell and Ian Flaherty are just four of the exciting new breed of designers who are embracing the internet to create new brand awareness. Aggressive treatment by some stores has propelled some into finding other ways of selling.
McCoubrey was fed up with buyers in particular. ‘It was agony dealing with the stores. They were never very pleasant. They want you one minute and discard you the next, my idea of torture. I was looking for a way out,’ he explained.
‘The whole experience was very stressful and everything was controlled by the buyer. Even if I sold lots, they didn’t care, they were still ruthless. I just want to sell ties not enter into stressful business relationships,’
Neil Bottle felt pressured by store buyers wanting him to produce two collections a year. ‘It just became too much. It was tedious and stopped me from developing. Selling on the web frees me up to do other things like being creative. It is such a relief for me to get away from the chain stores,’ said Bottle, whose abstract hand made silk ties feature on the website and whose textiles are part of the permanent collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and wall hangings at London’s Globe theatre.
He also has repeat customers who he can direct to the website. ‘I didn’t want the hassle of selling direct,’ added Bottle who takes a lot of inspiration from the landscape around his home and studio on the Kent coast.
Even for designers who still sell to the stores the new website is attractive. Ian Flaherty sells in Selfridges and John Lewis yet he recognises the benefits of selling on-line. But it couldn’t just be any website. ‘I am getting involved because the website is for good quality products that are made in Britain. Anyone who is prepared to champion quality British products has my backing. I could have my cufflinks made in China but I am not prepared to compromise on quality. I had some samples from India and China and it was laughable,’ said Flaherty who has a studio in Battersea.
London based Cressida Bell, whose ties feature on the website, also gets repeat business but did not want to sell over the internet without an emphasis on quality. ‘I design ties for the pure decorative element of wearing something that doesn’t just look good but feels good too. The quality and the silk are so important. It is all about individuality and being able to buy a tie that you know the next man sitting next to you hopefully won’t be wearing as many of these designs are exclusive,’ she said.
By joining their creative strength with the business accumen of businessman Patrick McMurray they are being marketed as the best in British designers with products that are actually made in Britain too. 'What we have is a new concept in retailing to appeal to those shoppers seeking individuality and quality. They are attracted to the cachet of products that are genuinely designed and made in Britain,’ said McMurray.
Many of these upmarket products cannot be bought elsewhere and are hand made and finished. ‘I have hopefully created an unique opportunity for collaboration between designer, seller and the public. I deal direct with the designers, thus cutting out the wholesaler or agent so it gives the designers a platform to sell without the hassle of setting it up them,’ added McMurray.
‘I approached various designers asking if I could sell their products. It is the reverse of what used to happen. It means they don’t have to do the endless round of buyers and be at the mercy of High Street Stores. It gives them time to concentrate on what they do best, which is design. I am complimenting their strengths which is designing and giving them the business strategy to take them onto a different level,’ said McMurray who is buying direct from the designers and handling the packaging and shipping as well as the marketing.
Others featured on the site include the Peckham Rye brand and designer Simon Carter. The products on patrickmcmurray.com include hand made and finished ties, cufflinks and wallets and will range in price from £35 for a Cressida Bell silk tie to £87 for a pair of Shane McCoubrey solid gold limited edition cufflinks.
www.patrickmcmurray.com
Note to editors: Product shots and photographs and biographical details of Patrick McMurray and the designers featured on the website are available on request. Please contact Ray Clancy of Gotcha! Press and Publicity Ltd on 01594 510532
or 07802 408266 ray@gotcha-pr.co.uk
