Remaining independent requires unwavering vision
It’s been a difficult few years for brands of all sizes. “Even the superbrands are posting difficult results or a decline in sales, which is really unusual,” Nixon says. “We’re kind of bucking the trend.” When asked about the brand’s continued success and independence in its 20th year, Nixon wryly comments: “It helps having one person as a creative director.” Amid the churning turnover of CDs elsewhere, having a singular long-term vision sets the brand apart. Nixon sees the CEO’s responsibility as making sure “that vision is painted really clearly, and that we’re all striving for the same thing.”
Success begins on the shop floor
While it can seem like spectacle is the biggest driver of success in fashion, retail sales teams are the “lifeblood of the business,” as they are uniquely positioned to engage directly with the customer and, ultimately, “take in all the money.” Nixon’s early career on a shop floor shaped the way she thinks as a CEO, and she understands that “leading from the front” is the only way to succeed: “You can’t achieve any of the big goals unless everybody is fighting on your side and wants it as much as you do.”
If it is still a man’s world, talk like it
When Nixon started out, she had plenty of women colleagues. The higher up the ranks she was promoted, the fewer women were seated at the table with her. “It became glaringly obvious that it’s still a man’s world, particularly in some of the bigger brands and structures.” It may feel necessary to slip into a “persona”, particularly in a room surrounded by men, but Nixon advises women to “lean into being a female leader.” That said, one subtle change can prove effective: “Instead of saying things like, ‘I think we should’, I noticed that the men were saying ‘we should,’ or ‘I’m going to’.”
Wholesale is a “necessary evil”
Under Nixon, Erdem’s e-commerce channel grew from accounting for 2% of sales to 12%, and the brand opened their first international store in Seoul. “We used to be 92% wholesale. That’s a very dangerous place to be in,” says Nixon, who steered the brand through the collapse of their biggest stockist, Matches. While wholesale remains unavoidable for many brands starting out, Nixon advises they start developing direct-to-consumer channels as soon as possible because “you can control your image, pricing, how you’re perceived and what you sit next to.” No matter the channel, “it’s important that whoever is selling your product understands it really well and is able to communicate really clearly.”
Avoid taking on debt, even if that means delaying your goals
In a landscape littered with recently closed brands, Erdem’s success is partly due to Nixon remaining “margin obsessed” and centring “the safety of the brand and its future” in every decision. Taking the time to work out the budget (her team takes around eight weeks) and sticking to it can require putting some goals on the back burner. For more costly business moves, like diversifying product categories or opening retail spaces, Nixon emphasises the importance of patience: “We want to be able to dress the Erdem woman head to toe, but because we’re independent and we won’t take on any debt, we just need to accumulate the money.”
Putting craft and creativity into the balance sheet pays off (eventually)
Erdem is committed to artistry and craftsmanship, as well as maintaining a diverse pricing architecture. “Sometimes that’s meant taking a bit of a hit on margin, but it’s really critical when you’re growing a brand,” she says. The Bloom bag, introduced last year as their first foray into leather goods, is proof. The bag is fitted with a hammered brass handle in the shape of a flower. “It’s made using a fine jewellery technique, lost wax casting. That adds to the price point, which we were worried about.” But, according to Nixon, it paid off – not only did existing customers buy into it, but new customers did, too.
Find a way to (bank)roll with regulatory changes
The incoming requirement for Digital Product Passports has the industry scrambling to comply, and with little to no financial support offered to aid the costly transition it can feel “penalising” for smaller brands. While Erdem remains independent, for some, the only option may be to seek investors. Nixon warns that it’s critical to have a fully formed design and business idea going in, so you can “stay true to what you want your brand to look like.” Finding a business partner can help, “otherwise, there is a bit of a gap that design students have to just face up to, which is that the commercial reality might look completely different to what they’d expected.”
