Gemma Metheringham: 'It has been quite a journey with Karen Millen'

As London Fashion Week draws to a close after showcasing some of the best of British fashion, FashionUnited took a moment to talk to one of the UK's recognizable brands Karen Millen, to learn more about its history, its renewed brand identity and what values fuel the contemporary

womenswear label. Chief creative officer, Gemma Metheringham, has overseen its transformation from a small label outside of London to the international fashion house Karen Millen is today and shares her story.

“I've been at Karen Millen for fourteen years, so when I started it was small private company, based outside of London with around, 30 stores,” explains Metheringham. “We had relatively small design studio at that point and I was actually designing part of the collection then, which was brilliant.” Karen Millen was first founded in 1981 by Kevin Stanford and Karen Millen, who borrowed a hundred pounds to start manufacturing white shirts, which they later sold to their family and friends. Business boomed and later the husband and wife team began running a party plan network. In 1983 they opened their first store in Kent and then years later in 1999 Metheringham was hired by Millen as design director.

The atelier sits at the heart of Karen Millen

“The thing I loved most about my job when I first joined was the atelier. The atelier was, and still is today, the heart of the brand. The collaboration between the pattern cutters, the designers and the fabrics was absolutely beautiful. I think that that was the thing I fell in love with...the passion for the product which is integral to the brand,” recollects Metheringham, who has safeguarded Karen Millen's design process since she was taken on.

The brand was later sold by its owners and acquired by a firm which was then known as Mosaic Fashions roughly ten years ago. Karen Millen relocated its headquarters to London, which felt like quite a big move for Metheringham who was adjusting to the label new owners, new surroundings and new ideas whilst trying to protect the values she “loved most” about the brand.

In 2006 she became creative director, and later in 2009, Karen Millen became part of Aurora Fashions after Mosaic entered into administration. Then in 2011, Karen Millen spun out of Aurora Fashion and became its own independent company. It was during this period of rapid changes that the label began to evolve and change, as the company started pushing into new international markets.

“The international influence really led to the collection diversifying and us introducing more trend-led products, limited editions and a broader range of wardrobe essentials,” points out Metheringham. However as the label began to expand and attract new consumers, the company slowly began to realized that their former brand identity and values did not connect to the current changes Karen Millen was under going.

“A few years ago we took a look at ourselves and the business we were then and we realized the brand visual identity we were projecting was completely misaligned with the brand we had become,” explained the creative officer. Particularly in the brand's home market, the UK, there seemed to be a lot of confusion for the consumers concerning Karen Millen's brand DNA, its values and what it meant to shoppers versus how the brand was perceived overseas in its foreign markets.

Karen

Millen reinvents its visual brand identity

“So we embarked on what has been an all encompassing project, involving all the people who work here in our Karen Millen head office, as well as all the people who work in our international business to look at what we stand for, what our ambition is and what is important for us and then we created a new visual identity out of that.”

“Together with Teresa Ramsden, our head of global PR, we really wanted to create something that acted like a palette cleanser, which would get people to take another look at Karen Millen.” The womenswear label has slowly been introducing its new visual brand identity to consumers all over the world over the past year and a half through a number of mediums including advertisements, relaunching its logo, rethinking its store concepts, its collections and its marketing campaigns to better reflect its renewed image and brand positioning.

“I hope that people are starting to see us as more of a bridge brand in the UK. Internationally we are already seen as more of a bridge brand, when you look in terms of our positioning and our brand location in overseas department stores and high streets, we fit better within that sector. I think the re-branding work we have done has more to do with aligning ourselves with that positioning.”

Metheringham adds that when the label first began coming up with ideas to translate the renewed brand identity, the company was focused on conveying the brand image as it stood. But later, when Karen Millen begun collaborating with David Bailey and Katy England for its first refreshed campaign for AW13 and working along with other fashion creatives, it began influencing the collection in Karen Millen's design studio. “The collection is continuing to evolve, continuing to diversify and I think its becoming more modern and the fashion elements are beginning to stand out more.”

So far the response Karen Millen has received from its refreshed collections “has been interesting in terms of sales,” and according to the label, its key fashion pieces are currently selling the best. “Obviously that is exciting for us as a design studio,” notes Metheringham. The atelier remains at the center of Karen Millen's brand values after its refreshed brand identity and Metheringham continues to ensure that designs and quality coming from its in-house design studio in Shoreditch, London, play a vital role the label's visual identity.

Karen Millen aspires to deliver “luxury design and brand quality”

“The design values of our atelier are still the same and as designers that is the other part that inspires us. Our aspiration in the studio is to deliver as near as possibly to luxury design and brand quality. I think the only way you can do that is to be involved in the creative process all the way through, so you are engineering the garments....we want people to treasure the pieces we design. We want them to become the favorite pieces in your wardrobe. The extra layer of quality we put in our items put us apart from other high street retailers, which is our aspiration.”

After

Karen Millen had studied its brand's visual identity, refreshed its logo and all of its brand material, the label decided it was time to take the next step in its brand journey and work on a new store concept to reflect its current identity. The new flagship stores on 5th Avenue in New York City and Knightsbridge, London are the first two stores to feature this redesigned concept. “Everything about the stores has been completely reconsidered and redesigned to showcase the collection as it is now. We wanted them to feel light, warm and feminine, welcoming and really showcase the breadth of the collection.”

All of the stores interior features from its coat hangers, to its interior paneling and digital content have been rethought and together are said to offer a different clientèle experience from Karen Millen's other retail locations around the world. The effect of the stores has been noted in the label's customers shopping habits as well. “We have seen that our customers are responding to the stores in a different way, they are shopping through the collection, seeing the key pieces, spending more time in the store and the average transaction spend in the new stores is much higher as well,” notes Metheringham.

The new flagship store in London also offers its customers a glimpse of the design process that lies at the heart of Karen Millen and every few months features a different pop-up studio where customers can order personalized pieces which are tailored in the label's atelier in Shoreditch as well as specially developed limited edition items. “We are very lucky we have the space in the Knightsbridge store to open pop-up shops in the basement to show the craft and creativity behind the brand. We have run two pop-ups so far, the leather atelier and one all about beading and jeweled sports wear. And we just launched a new atelier with a limited edition of signature favorite fall coats, all made in London.”

AW 14 campaign brings the “brand as it stands now to life”

The atelier remains a key part of Karen Millen's visual brand identity and was also a main part of the label's new AW 14 campaign, 'The Journey'. “The campaign we just launched with Sophie Turner is us bringing the brand as it stands now to life,” explains Metheringham. “That is Karen Millen, as it stands now, an international fashion house based in Shoreditch making really beautiful key fashion pieces that strong, independent women can wear in their own way.”

The response Karen Millen has received from its latest campaigns has also strengthened the label's resolve. “The response to all of our campaigns, without wanting to sound overly emotional has been amazing. The response to the first David Bailey campaign for us was incredible. The coverage that we received and the positivity around what we were trying to do with the brand was great. Seeing and appreciating the transformation is amazing.”

“It has been quite a journey with Karen Millen. Culturally as a business our commitment to the product, the way we work together, the spirit of collaboration has always been there, but it is a much bigger and much more international company than when I first started and that's been exciting.”

“It's been such an adventure, now we will take some time to breathe and think about our next step.”

Vivian Hendriksz

Images: Karen Millen