After 20 years at the helm of 60-year-old British footwear brand Kurt Geiger, Neil Clifford is more than halfway to leading the company to a record sales year.
Kurt Geiger has already made big, impactful changes. For example, five years ago, Clifford hired Michael Kors alum Steven Sousa to lead Kurt Geiger's North American expansion; the market now drives bigger sales for the brand than the U.K. The company has also expanded to other international markets, with its Dubai-based store quickly becoming its most successful, in terms of its sales per square foot. Kurt Geiger has 70 stores in the U.K.
In addition to stores, the company has upped its investment in marketing, doubling its dedicated budget in each of the past two years. The focus of the strategy is creating compelling imagery.
"It's very British [to be] much better at creativity and fun and joy than making money and [developing] business strategies," Clifford said on the latest episode of the Glossy Podcast. "But look at how many brands around the world have British creative directors. That's not a coincidence."
Moving forward, thanks in part to a new round of funding, more stores are on the way. Kurt Geiger will open a new London flagship in mid-September. The brand then plans to launch 20-30 stores in North America over five years, starting in October. After three locations in Mexico, it will set up shop in Florida, Southern California and New York early next year.
And in November, it will expand focus to its men's business with plans for a big, product-focused campaign.
"We focus on design. We spend hours every day talking about product and … great value," Clifford said. "And we hope that formula transpires into something super desirable and super differentiating and disrupting — because we as Brits like to disrupt; anarchy is in our blood."
Week in Review: Olay and the Olympics opportunity, Virginie Viard departs Chanel
Founder Jenny Bird: 'We're a unicorn in the consumer space,' with great word of mouth and brand loyalty
Week in Review: Brand closures, Capri earnings and summer trends
CEO Kruti Patel Goyal on bringing Depop to 'a bigger, broader audience in more places’
Week in Review: Mara Hoffman, Ted Baker and the Global Fashion Summit
Fashionphile's Ben Hemminger: 'We don't desire to be in every single channel'
Week in Review: De Beers's future, the Victoria's Secret fashion show, abuse allegations against Shein
Lululemon vets on launching Left On Friday: 'We were able to go so far so fast'
Week in Review: Met Gala edition
Esprit’s Scott Lux: ‘At the end of the day, the product and customer have to be the heroes’
Week in Review: AI regulation, LVMH's Marc Jacobs plans, the growth of TikTok Shop
Carolina Herrera's Wes Gordon: Department stores aren't the only important sales channel anymore
Week in Review: Matches Fashion, luxury's China slowdown, the TikTok ban
Lilly Pulitzer CEO Michelle Kelly: Our ‘balanced marketing mix’ includes catalogs and commercials
Digiday Media Presents: The Return Season Three
Week in Review: Women's basketball players are the new fashion icons
The Normal Brand’s Jimmy and Lan Sansone: ‘To build a lasting brand, you need a brick-and-mortar presence’
Week in Review: Allbirds' struggles, Hermès's watch expansion, Beyoncé's cowboy moment
Larroudé CEO Ricardo Larroudé on taking shoes from idea to product page in 1 day
Week in Review: Express's bankruptcy, Amazon's layoffs and PVH's earnings
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Glossy Beauty Podcast
The Turn of the Screw
Frankenstein