EDITORS’ NOTE
Ray Kelvin founded the Ted Baker brand in 1988, when he opened up a men’s shirt specialty shop in Glasgow. Kelvin relied on word of mouth and early viral marketing initiatives alongside the creation of a rich personality to anchor the brand.
COMPANY BRIEF
U.K. designer label Ted Baker (www.tedbaker-london.com) is a British lifestyle brand known for applying innovative and unique twists to all of its products. Following the opening of the first store in 1988, stores quickly opened in Manchester, Cambridge, and Nottingham. Initially, Ted Baker exclusively offered men’s limited edition shirts. Six years later, a store in Covent Garden opened and Kelvin bought the company outright from part-owners Goldberg and Sons. Additional stores in Soho in London, Nottingham, and Leeds opened in 1994. In 1995, Ted Baker launched Ted Baker Woman. Ted Baker has since become a global brand, which produces men’s, women’s, and children’s clothing. The company also produces fragrances, eyewear, footwear, watches, and accessories. The Ted Baker collections are also sold by other retailers. Ted Baker has launched new collections in partnership with Debenhams, including Baker by Ted Baker and B by Ted Baker. Ted Baker has stores, outlets ,and concessions across Europe, the U.S., Australasia, Asia, and the Middle East, and has expanded its presence in these territories through its wholesale and export business, which now covers Australia, New Zealand, the U.S., Canada, Norway, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Andorra, Finland, the Netherlands, and Belgium, as well as the U.K.
When you look back to 1988 and the creation of the brand, what did you see in the market that made you feel there was an opportunity?
I started the business and called it Ted Baker because I thought, from day one, that it would be a failure, and I didn’t want to be “Ray Kelvin the bankrupt.” So it was a good name to hide behind.
Now that it is a global success, I’m still happy to be in the background, because I’m a big believer in team performance and the brand is not about an individual.
We design for our customers, not for prestige. So it’s about delivering what our customers want. When I started, I wanted to create a product that was twice the product at half the price. I tried to design and create product that we sell or deliver in a way that is far-reaching – the design doesn’t have to be for the luxury few. So my challenge was to create a beautiful piece of design that doesn’t have to be expensive and is acceptable by all.
Even to this day, a lot of people within the industry wonder how good it can be because it’s not being sold at a ridiculous luxury price. But that is how we design and it is the whole model of the business.
Many equate quality with price. How do you create the type of quality you do but keep the price within a reasonable range?
It’s not just about the product – as a business, we’re just proud to be in a world-class organization and to still be here. There is a love and passion that runs through the veins of everybody in this business that makes it unique. We love to give service and care.
One of the reasons why other brands make things very expensive is so they don’t have to sell a lot – it’s a margin, a model. We don’t make enormous margins, but we get the volume. So it’s the volume we drive that gives us the net reward we need to achieve as a publicly quoted company. If we raise the prices, then we’re the same as everybody else and we will sell less.
We like to sell a lot, but we don’t have to sell a lot of any one particular item because we are continually producing new ones. We design like luxury designers but we produce like the mainstream ones.
How broad do you plan for brand extensions to go?
Very broad. I don’t like to follow trends in terms of what other people do; I’m motivated by product, design, and great service.
Culturally, when you have a founder/owner of the business and a team that have been there from the early days, you have a chance to create something special. If you’re a corporate player just looking for your next payout, it’s a different thing.
The world has become homogenous and, unfortunately, we’re surprised by great service today. In America, I used to be thrilled by the service; today, you don’t get that anywhere in the world.
Is it challenging to retain people and how have you kept the culture intact through all the growth?
Retaining people has not been a challenge because we’re very real. The challenge for us is bringing people from outside in because we’re no ordinary designer label. They find it odd that people have been here for so long and struggle with how to get on in that environment. They sometimes bring some bad habits with them, but we don’t do everything well and we’re not arrogant in the way we do things.
I have retained the same directors I had from day one. There were only three of us in the office then. We’re all growing together and they’re all still young.
We recently gave 60 people a little wisdom tooth and a holiday because they had been with us over 10 years even though they were only in their 30s. There was one kid who was 15 when he joined us – he’s now 35.
You know why? Because we care.
If you think back to the early days, could you imagine this would have become what it has?
I’m still running a little shop. The danger is thinking that way.
It’s a much bigger business than what the figures show in the accounts – close to 500 million pounds a year when looking at the grossed up retail value of all the products. But I don’t want to think about that because money is a byproduct of doing a good job. It’s about loving and caring for people, and the product and the customers.
Do you have the ability to ever turn the business off?
Yes. If you have a balance, you’re more invigorated, and if you’re interested in and motivated by product and by people, then you have to stand back from it and do other things.
Do you know how many business calls I get a week? Three. The phone never rings. Because if the business is well organized and delegated, set up, and instructed, I don’t get involved. My conversations are with people internally. It’s not about the one person – it’s about driving the organization and the team. The people understand that as well because they’re running the business and they know better than I do about running it.
QUINTESSENTIALLY UNIQUE
Interview: Ray Kelvin, Founder of Ted Baker London
In England, Ted Baker has become what Ralph Lauren is in the United States: more than just a purveyor of the finest quality shirts – rather, an icon of its nation. (Disambiguation: there is no Ted Baker. Or rather, Mr Baker is “the ultimate Englishman in New York” – at once stylish, worldly and roguish) The brand is known for refinement and distinction, but that’s cut down by a cheeky sense of Brit humor (think John Cleese wearing a rakish suit). They’ve just opened a new Manhattan store in the meatpacking district, bringing a taste of anglo-style to the Empire City. Gear Patrol sat down with Ted Baker founder and CEO Ray Kelvin, the self-proclaimed “closest man to Ted.” Irreverent and entertaining, he told us about the brand, how it started, and where it’s going.
Gear Patrol: When did you originally become involved in menswear?
Ray Kelvin: I learned the art of retailing at an early age working in my grandfather’s shop where I learnt everything from stock taking to how to sell.
GP: How did Ted Baker begin?
RK: I started the Ted Baker brand as a shirt specialist in Glasgow back in 1988 where I opened my first store.
GP: We’re intrigued by your organic approach to advertising – Ted Baker has grown through word of-mouth rather than aggressive advertising. Was it a conscious decision? Obviously it’s been an effective model… or was Ted Baker just a perfect storm?
RK: I started the business by trying to find alternative ways of building awareness. At Ted we always like to do things differently including creative window displays which create a talking point, guerilla tactics and by having our own language and culture. I felt that not advertising was the right thing to do when I started out and I have stuck to that preferring to grow the business through considered expansion of the collections and stores.
GP: Tell us about your early decision to offer dry cleaning of all the shirts you sold.
RK: My original plan was to deliver outstanding quality, uniqueness, innovation and attention-to detail both in terms of the clothes and the customer service. Offering a free laundry service was a way to provide an engaging shopping experience and to connect with our customers in a personal way. We may no longer offer the dry cleaning but we bring an element of quirk and attention to detail in everything that we do.
GP: You’ve mentioned a “Ted Baker lifestyle” and the “fun, cheeky attitude.” If you could describe the Ted Baker aesthetic, what would it be?
RK: I try very hard to bring personality out in everything that I do. I don’t want to be ordinary or like anybody else. From subtle embroidered details in the clothing to amusing notes on the packaging, everything that bears the Ted Baker name always offers absolute quality and that little bit more. It all comes down to a belief in making fashion, and life in general, fun.
GP: Are there certain places or people or things that you go to for inspiration?
RK: I get inspiration from a variety of sources and from my travels. I enjoy fabrics and textures and interior design; in fact I enjoy all areas of design, that’s what motivates and inspires me.
GP: Tell us about the new Manhattan store in the Meatpacking District. How will it be different from other Ted Baker locations?
RK: Each Ted store is individually designed to complement its immediate surroundings so each store is unique. The meatpacking store is less traditional shop fit and more art installation. Exposed brickwork and reclaimed flooring, as well as a washed out color scheme lets the Autumn Winter 2010 collection take centre stage.
Building upon the minimalist design inspiration and considering the area’s rich history, the store is filled with bespoke, leather-upholstered wooden crates, all of which contain just a few home comforts for ‘Ted’ – the ultimate Englishman in New York. Packed carefully by Ted’s butler and transported to Manhattan, each crate relates to different aspects of Ted’s life: from gardening tools to his finest bone china.
GP: Something most people don’t know is that one of the Ted Baker stores was entirely built and dismantled on set for the James Bond film Casino Royale, How did that come about?
RK: We were approached by the film production company and agreed to design and build a fully merchandised Ted Baker store on the film set in Prague. The entire project was carried out in only three days and the store appeared in a scene which was set at Miami airport.
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