British menswear brand Aubin returns with backing from Next

Peter Williams, founder of Jack Wills and Aubin and Wills brands, has announced he is relaunching menswear brand, Aubin this autumn with the backing of Next following a nine-year hiatus.

Aubin will return with a new hybrid business model designed to “future proof retail in a post-covid world”. Williams said this means that the brand will overcome challenges surrounding infrastructure, distribution and supply chains while allowing Aubin’s team the freedom to design and create, without the constraints of overseeing back-end operations.

The deal will allow Aubin to utilise Next’s leading end-to-end Total Platform e-commerce fulfilment infrastructure, digital marketing expertise, warehousing and IT while allowing the menswear brand to retain creative independence of the brand and product.

As part of Next’s commitment to the menswear brand, the retailer has acquired a minority stake of 33 percent in Aubin and will be its distribution partner, handling customer orders, deliveries, returns processing and payments.

Peter Williams teams up with Next to relaunch menswear brand Aubin

Peter Williams, founder of Aubin, said in a statement: “We’re delighted to be announcing our partnership with Next following a nine-year hiatus of Aubin. From our past experience with the brand, we’ve learnt that our priority is to obsess 24-7 about our target customer and to produce the best possible product we can. Always working with specialist craftsmen to modernise classic wardrobe staples.

“Next is the ideal partner for us to collaborate with after the last 18 months of turbulence in the industry, as we are able to not only deliver products that are made to last – in both style and durability – but also ensure our customers benefit from a really world class delivery infrastructure.”

To help relaunch Aubin online for today’s market, Williams has enlisted “trusted colleagues” including Greg Roberts as chief executive and Rachel Silvester as creative director, former head of design at Jack Wills and Aubin and Wills.

Aubin will launch online via a new website on September 7, alongside its debut store in Carnaby’s Newburgh Quarter. The debut collection will consist of “reinvented classics, designed to last wear-after-wear and never go out of style”.

Next chief executive, Simon Wolfson, added: “We are delighted to be working with Peter Williams and his team to relaunch the Aubin brand. We believe the combination of Aubin’s outstanding design and brand building skills, alongside Next’s Total Platform end-to-end online infrastructure, can rapidly create an iconic British brand with lasting appeal.”