Make Mine a Kipling
16-11-2005
{mosimage} Now available in 55 countries Kipling recently hit
Kipling Q & A:
Q Congratulations on your new
Richard: That it is so unique to anything else in the market at the moment. We are the best women’s casual bag brand in the world and we offer great colours and patterns that the consumer really loves, not to mention the function and compactability of each of our bags and luggage pieces. – Or maybe it’s our Monkey that’s on all the Kipling bags and which consumers really love.
Q For those new to Kipling, what products do you offer and how do they differ from what else is currently available?
Richard: Firstly we offer bags for use in all aspects of a woman’s life. Great casual handbags, shoulder bags as well as highly practical, lightweight luggage. Our bags are made from lightweight, durable nylon fabric that is almost indestructible. Plus we are able to bring over 1,000 options every season in a wide range of fashion right prints and colours. We change our range 4 times per year with continual newness and innovation meaning that many of our customers come back time and time again every season to see what’s new.
Q There is talk of a general move away from large brands to more individual, unique finds, is this a factor you bear in mind in the development of Kipling?
Richard: Kipling is unique in itself, in that we have no real competitors. We introduce new ranges each season and in itself these are unique finds as they show so much diversity. We try very hard to preserve the individuality of our customers by offering real personality in our bags and are the antithesis of the ubiquitous sports brands.
Q Do you plan to make your website e-commerce in the near future?
Richard: We are delighted with the amount of sales we are showing with the e-commerce specialists such as ebags.co.uk and see this a great area for development as this would obviously aid our online consumers who ask for this type of media.
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Q The UK has some great young design talent, what key advice would you give them regards setting up their own business?
Richard: You cannot research enough! Get great funding beforehand, perhaps through a charity like The Prince’s Trust and make up an inspirational, yet practical and realistic business plan. Overall, don’t lose faith and energy in your concept, if you’ve put enough into it there is no reason why it can’t work!
Q If you could invite any well-known inspirational individual(s) over for dinner who would they be and why? {mosimage}
Richard: I would ask the Kipling monkey to bring a guest. It would be sure to be somebody really interesting.
Q Could you give us a taster of what you have in store for 2006, with both your product design and also your development programme…
Richard: We have totally revamped our main collection for SS-06 with the introduction of 30 new styles in fresher, even more fashionable looking lines. We are also introducing a “Working Life” range for women to carry laptops and everyday working requirements, in a range of great colours and prints as always, and also a chic and bold handbag collection called Deva. Both we are sure will do really well!
{mosimage}Kipling
Alba, Beales, Bloomsbury Ltd, House of Fraser, Fenwick, Gallops, Harrods, House of Fraser, John Lewis, Peter Jones, Selfridges and Traveller.
Kipling Flagship Store,
Kipling is now part of the VF Corporation’s Outdoor Coalition which includes major brands such as Eastpak, Jansport, Nautica, The North Face, Reef and Vans (www.vfc.com).
By JoJo Iles
