Exquisitely British - The British Entrepreneur Club for Luxury Brands 

Tell us a bit about yourself, Eddie

 

I’m Eddie Knevett, co-founder of Village England, lover of ceramics and cake.  I completed a design degree in fashion, and thought I should get some experience of the real world and business before becoming a designer.  I spent 10 years buying handbags at Harrods (including creating their in-house collections) followed by 10 years at House of Fraser (also creating all their in-house collections) so its lovely to finally be a designer!

 

How did Village England begin?

 

A long-standing joke, a bit of fate and a meeting happening at the right time.  My business partner Julia Dobson and I had met professionally when we were on opposite sites of the table, she was the UK Boss of Celine and I was the Head of Accessories at House of Fraser.  A mutual approach to business (strong values, do the right thing, saying thank you) was the basis of our friendship, and we joked that between us we had the right experience in all the necessary business functions to be able to run a business.  Then came a moment where Jules felt her move into the beauty sector was the wrong one (she’s a fashion girl) and I was consulting but wanting something more substantial.  The joke became a serious review of the market, passionate views over what was missing and the whole thing snowballed.

 

Who is your ideal customer?

 

We’ve worked in the luxury sector for years, and when you are demanding a high pricepoint, most of the choices you make in creating a product revolve around “will this material, this detail, this function make her happy”.  We have that same approach to our customers, and we create bags that have the same approach to creation; caring about how the leathers will wear and age, caring about functionality. We don’t cut corners to achieve a price, and our bags will always have a lining that feels beautiful and lots of pockets inside.  I look to Jules when I design, a woman who loves fashion, completely understands beautiful leather, and now that she has her two boys (and no access to clothing allowance or a staff discount at a luxury brand) there is no way she would spend £1500 on a handbag.  She also does all the wear testing because (as you would expect from a woman who has not bought a handbag in 10 years) she has high standards in functionality and she is incredibly hard on them.

This is of course a long way of saying that our ideal customer is someone who is living a real life.  A strong sense of style but a need for quality and function and at real world price.

 

What has been your biggest challenge?

 

Strangely the hardest part was presenting the collection to a number of buyers who I knew and respected in the industry, it was incredibly nerve-wracking and I felt extremely exposed.  Thankfully the feedback has been good!  It’s a real problem that I’ve worked in this industry for long enough to know the language of a buyer who hates something but will give polite and positive feedback, and we’ve not had that, just some good orders!

 

What has been your biggest highlight?

 

Without fail it is seeing one of our bags on someone on the tube.  The fact that someone chose to spend their hard earned cash on one of our bags over any other is both an amazing compliment and also humbling. I want to run up to them and say thank you but then shyness takes over and I also remember no one talks on the tube. Our bags are for real women who have real lives, and it’s so great to see who these women are.

 

Do you have any advice for others who are thinking of starting their own business?

 

It will take three times as long as you think, and cost about three times as much money as you think.  This advice was given to us, and although we didn’t believe it at the time, it’s true. It’s also great fun!

 

What does your "typical" work day look like?

 

I am typically working on three seasons at any one time. The designing phase is a cycle.  Without fail I’m checking my emails with a cup of coffee, and making sure I skim over news from the market place first thing. Currently, I’m reviewing the sales delivered across all our customers so far in spring summer 2014, viewing and adjusting first samples, visiting with the factories to discuss required changes, and designing any additional pieces which are required to complete the next collection, which will be Spring Summer 2015 (delivered to stores in January 2015). I am also ordering designing and ordering hardware, components, leathers, linings etc for AW14 production (due in stores July 2014).  We’re also working on designing the concept for the upcoming showroom, as well as the shopfit displays for a number of popup stores which will soon open.  As we start to wrap up the SS15 collection I’ll start thinking about the Autumn Winter colour palette, and new shapes (in the broadest terms – I won’t design AW15 until we have the feedback from the buyers at the next showroom).

 

Do you have any favourite British brands?

 

I’m a big fan of Private White VC, I love the look and feel of the product and their communication style.  I love Custhom, their wallpapers are particularly beautiful, innovative and playful. Victoria Eggs is a friend of ours, who we met at a popup store for PopUp Britain.  I love her prints and style – so British.

 

What are your plans for the future?

 

We’ve only been trading for nine months, so there is plenty for us to be getting on with!  The UK market is trading well, sales from the first season with House of Fraser, Fenwick and Jarrolds amongst various other independent stores have been strong, and we will be in Anthropologie from next season which is great.  Jules and I really like getting out into the market so we can talk to real women, so there is a number of retail events coming, including a month on Floral St in Covent Garden. 

 

We are also starting our push internationally too, we were really delighted with the support and sales we had from our first international tradeshow, so there is a lot to do there.  There is such a high regard for Made In England products now from overseas markets – we were not expecting quite that level of demand!

 

 

For more information on Village England visit www.villageengland.com