Anya Hindmarch on building her brand back

Handbags with googly eyes, Blue Dragon sweet chili ice cream, and Stabilo Boss highlighter purse charms are all the real-life creations of fashion accessories designer Anya Hindmarch. The creative director founded her eponymous brand in 1987, later becoming the first accessories label to show on the London Fashion Week schedule in 2016. Hindmarch is now globally recognized for playful accessories that beat in the opposite direction of the trend drum, as does her disruptively exquisite approach to experiential retail. Tucked away in London’s Chelsea, The Village (established in 2021) is home to an evolving stationary pop-up, currently dedicated to Peanuts, having previously been home to Santa’s grotto, a hairdresser, a greengrocer, and more. It presents the brand’s trademark tongue-in-cheek approach of combining everyday household names and objects with a touch of girly glamor, and it has proven popular with Chinese tourists. On Xiaohongshu, #anyahindmarch has amassed 5.2 million views, with the Anya Cafe a hot spot for photos on the platform. Though now in a strong business position – in January the brand reported a turnover of 20.5 million British pounds ($26.6 million), up from 15.7 million British pounds ($20.4 million) the year before – it has not all been smooth sailing. In March 2012, the business, then operating at a loss, was sold to Javad Marandi (an investor in the likes of fashion label Emilia Wickstead and Soho Farmhouse members’ club). The designer stepped down from her leadership role eight years ago, before buying back the company in 2019, and returning to her CEO role four years ago. As the brand expands and looks to grow in Asia – it operates a physical store presence in Hong Kong and Japan – Jing Daily spoke to Hindmarch about her journey, and what’s next. Jing Daily: How has Anya Hindmarch changed since you bought back the business? Anya Hindmarch: We bought back a bit of a broken business. We had to really relook at it in a different way. Our mantra was: for a brand to exist in the real world, and for retail to exist in the digital world, there needs to be a reason to visit. So, we wanted to reform the way we worked completely. We work in these pillars. We have our mainline collection, the bespoke store, a brick-and-mortar store, a lifestyle collection, and we have the cafe. We have these five pillars, and we opened this little village, which houses all of them, when we bought the business back. At some point, I would love to open some more cafes and to really expand this bit. We’re looking at that. We used to have 65 stores, and we pulled right back and opened The Village. We’re beginning very, very gently to open out again. But, I don’t want there to be cookie-cutter stores all over the world. I don’t think that’s modern anymore for us. JD: What is the Anya Cafe’s mood? AH: It’s meant to be cozy and warm and not formal. You can just go there in your jeans with your dog, or you can go there, you know, before a business meeting, or indeed, for a business meeting, but the ingredients are amazing. The milk is from Devon, the butter is from Somerset, the cheeses, there are really special ingredients. It’s cozy, but really welcoming. And we have all the creativity of the brand and the food, and it’s just really fun. JD: How have you approached China? AH: We work with Uniqlo, which we do a lot with in China. It’s been a phenomenal project. They’re an amazing partner. We launched a selection last November. It sold out in two hours. It was absolutely blowing up, and it crashed the website in China, Japan and America. JD: What other retail projects did you enjoy doing? AH: Sustainability is really key for us. There’s no need for landfill in nature … Fallen apples don’t end up in landfill. They degrade and become compost, which makes the soil richer, supporting plant life. We launched a bag that behaved in the same way as the apple. It took us 2.5 years to develop. JD: What was the key to revitalizing the brand when you bought it back? AH: When you take back a brand, it is usually in need of a bit of work … We just looked at it and thought, what do we care about? I’m less fussed about fashion because I love fashion. It’s my life and my language. But I think people want emotion, and they want experience, and they want responsibility, and I really want to connect with that. JD: Who is your target consumer today? AH: I don’t overthink it. While we do have a strategy, we had a strategy to mend the brand, to get it right, to make it bigger. It’s localization, not globalization at the moment. Obviously, digital is global, but just to rethink it. And I do what I love, and I think I start with the question: ‘What do I want myself?’ We absolutely get kids, we get teenagers, we get 80-year-old women coming in. Even when we look on Net-a-Porter, people are buying Gucci, Celine, and then us, too. Sometimes, people want something a little different. It very much sits in the luxury space. JD: You work with a lot of British household names that elicit nostalgia, like Heinz Ketchup. Would you ever collaborate with brands elsewhere? AH: We love to localize a bit. I feel like they need to be brands that mean something to us. That’s kind of important. Approaching is quite hard because sometimes when you’re a long way away in little old England, it’s quite hard to make them understand what you’re trying to do. Some brands are completely global, and some are very local, and some have different meanings and even have different brands, sometimes in different markets. It’s quite an interesting world. And of course, it’s a very complicated world in terms of all the legal side of everything, making sure it’s doable. JD: Do you have fond memories of China? AH: I love China. My son went to the University of Beijing. My husband’s great grandfather was actually the British ambassador there in the 1930s. So, we have quite a deep history in our family with China. JD: What is behind your business success, and how do you plan to maintain it? AH: Growth is all about people, really, you know, and about organization. I also got the DNA soup right … We’re beginning to get that into a sort of timetable where you can be organized. The next thing is going to be a bit of investment; we’re all working very, very hard, but I think we need to put a bit of infrastructure in. When we bought the business back, we really hunkered down to keep costs low, get the creativity going, and just sort of make it happen. And then we could grow, but keep the costs under control. We probably now need to put resources in to support a team in China, or a partner in China, or, you know, the sort of digital setup that we might need that might be specific to China. JD: What have you learned from your journey? AH: You know what? To trust my gut. That’s why I wrote the book, If in Doubt, Wash Your Hair. I never went to design school, and never trained as a CEO. These can all be little niggles. But actually, I now know that I know my brand. I know what makes people smile and what makes people want to buy and what makes people want to engage. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and brevity. Jing Daily presents Jing Masterminds — a regular, exclusive interview series profiling today’s most iconic names in art, fashion, commerce and culture. Delving deep into their personal journeys, creative processes, business strategies and societal impacts, the series offers readers an intimate look at the lives and minds shaping our industries.

Anya Hindmarch on building her brand back

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Published October 16, 2024

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Anya Hindmarch on building her brand back