Should the hysteria that surrounded the launch of H&M’s sequin-trimmed collaboration with Balmain have left you cold, confused and clutching your navy blue sweater collection, chances are that you’ve already heard of e-tailer Finery London.
Less than a year since it made its first sale, the brand has earned itself a crucial position in the wardrobes of a growing category of stylish London women – a breed who were growing increasingly disillusioned by a high-street intent on spitting out throwaway trends at budget prices.
Along with its deliciously low-key coats and perfectly cut peg trousers, Finery’s strength is its dedication to offering carefully considered, seasonless clothing at a price that is neither terrifyingly cheap or eye-wateringly expensive.
The site’s success can also be credited in part to the fact that it is the brainchild of Caren Downie, former fashion director of Asos.com, buying director of Topshop and all-round high-street fashion super-force, who launched the brand with the help of former colleagues Emma Farrow, formerly designer director at Topshop, and Rachel Morgans, former buying director at Asos.
Downie, Farrow and Morgans have spent decades immersed in the world of fast fashion – which is interesting, since what they are trying to create with Finery is its opposite.
“We’re in slow fashion now,” says Downie, whose initial idea for Finery was to launch a brand that catered for women she felt were being neglected elsewhere on the high street.
“Having worked at Asos and Topshop, we knew that those brands were going much younger in terms of their customer profiles. I also wanted to do something that puts emphasis back on the product because I think that’s something that has been lost. We couldn’t find anything we wanted to buy.”
Financial backing aside – Downie joined forces with Berlin-based investor Global Fashion Group to launch the business – the trio set to work on creating a high-street fashion brand for women rather than girls.
Almost a year on and the fruits of this effort include 10 months of successful sales, a new HQ on Oxford Street and a stellar reputation among the hard-to-please fashion crowd. In addition, Finery’s small but carefully formed collections are now available in the US, Australia and Canada.
“I loved it at Topshop,” says Farrow, whose design repertoire includes everything from Breton sweaters, versatile dresses and a supreme flat- shoe offering, “but I didn’t wear the clothes. What we’re trying to do here is create something tangible, and something we want to wear.”
To this end, Finery is less concerned with catwalk trends and thoroughly committed to creating products that women will love.
“While I think it’s important that we’re fully aware of everything that’s happening fashion-wise and to be relevant, we have to come at things from our own angle,” says Farrow. “We take the essence of a mood then interpret it. It’s nice to be able to do that. Especially coming from such a big high street corporation, where there was an expectation on you to deliver every trend.”
For Morgans it is this idea of siphoning out the excess to present a collection the customer can really engage with that proves inspiring. “We don’t want to have thousands of products but an edited collection. It makes it easier for the customer to understand. It’s about helping her live her life.”
To achieve that, each item is subject to rigorous testing. “We try to trial as many of the clothes as we can ourselves,” says Morgans. “We also do a lot of work to make sure each item functions in everyday life. We ask ourselves: ‘How will it hang when she’s standing on the Tube? What about when she’s sitting down in the office?’”
Longevity is something of a buzzword at Finery too – a fact that’s compounded in its sleek and stylish packaging. “We want everything to feel special,” says Downie. “Throwaway fashion just doesn’t feel relevant any more. I would like to think that it’s because people have more respect.”
“Every product is made by someone. I’ve always thought that to wear something just once and then throw it away is really awful. It’s so disrespectful to whoever put in that time and effort to make it.”
As a result, the Finery ethos is not one underpinned by seasons, or even by traditional categories, but by the products themselves. It is for this reason that you’ll never find a category entitled “workwear” on its website.
“While we know women are wearing our clothes to the office we don’t ever think of it as workwear,” says Downie. “We try to make each piece versatile and as unseasonable as possible so it can be worn all year round and at all sorts of occasions.”
It is most certainly this versatile approach that has made the brand such a success in the capital, where an effortless approach is everything. “What we’re trying to do here is make our woman feel comfortable and, as a result, more confident,” says Downie. “We want to make it effortless for the customer but also so she can feel the best that she can feel. And never in a try-hard way.”
The result of this is a Christmas collection that offers “event” or eveningwear without twee trimmings. “We call it anti- Christmas,” says Farrow, “when you work on the high street there’s this awful category called “Going Out” which doesn’t really sell any more. We wanted to create clothes for events that you can wear now and then again in the spring.”
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