You can’t have missed Kate Moss in London this past week. Not only has her face been emblazoned on billboards, buses, tube ads and black cabs, but she’s also been covering the sizeable shop front of the iconic former BHS building on Oxford Street. The quintessentially London ‘It’ girl and model is the new face of Polish fashion brand Reserved, which is launching its first store in anything but a reserved manner today.
Launched in 1999 in the wake of the end of communist rule in Poland two years previously, Reserved is the hero brand of the LLP group, led by charmingly unassuming CEO Marek Piechocki – a kind of anti-Philip Green (he politely requests that we don’t photograph him to preserve his relative anonymity and also admits he still cycles 70km to work every day rather than drive a fancy car). A behemoth in its native country – much like Topshop here – its already made its mark on Poland and Eastern Europe, where it is three times the size of its major rival H&M. Indeed, it has been valued at $3.2 billion and makes 1.5 billion in sales yearly.
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At a presentation in Gdansk, a picturesque coastal town on the Baltic Sea, Pierchocki explains that LLP expanded as it adapted to the new needs of the Polish population who were suddenly earning more money and had disposable income for the first time in forty plus years. Under the communist regime, people had queued with their ration books to collect their allotted sausages, sugar and even shoes. Suddenly, there was a demand for fashion as well as a hunger for it. From its humble origins as a ramshackle 20 square-metre standalone shop 26 years ago, it has expanded exponentially, with 1700 stores around the world and an immaculate headquarters in Gdansk with separate departments and teams for T-shirts, jersey, menswear and accessories. Its London flagship is 30,000 square metres.
The move to the British capital is a milestone for the brand, who see London as the biggest, toughest market to crack yet. But it’s a move that has been meticulously thought-through and planned, not least thanks to an innate understanding of British style and the UK consumer. After all, who better to sell your brand to the masses than its most famous face, Kate Moss? As evidenced in the new campaign shoot, the aesthetic of the brand is similar to what has come to be London’s signature style; polished and unpolished (pun intended), rough around the edges and with a quiet rock ‘n’ roll edge, with pleated midi skirts, camel coats and green tartan kilts all making up the first offering to hit rails.
But what makes it different to the plethora of other high street stores dominating the British high street today? That would be its unique aesthetic, which is both Polish and not Polish at the same time. The strong visual identity of the brand is undoubtedly down to head designer Sho Kondo, who honed his craft at places as diverse as Zara and Balenciaga. Hailing from Japan, he brings a unique outsider’s eye to Reserved, which is neither Polish or Western. Producing new collections every two weeks, this is undoubtedly fast fashion, yet it isn’t particularly trend-led. His team scour the globe for inspiration, frequently taking trips as far afield as Asia, while also looking back through the archives and closer to home at Polish street style. One of the most recent collections looks strikingly similar to the first created in the early 1990s, while military uniforms and other details from Polish history have also been referenced.
With a real point of difference to its competitors as well as a keen understanding of the British customer, we think Reserved is going to be the shake-up the over-saturated British high street has been waiting for. Oh, and if it's good enough for Mossy, it's good enough for us. Race you to the tills.
Reserved opens on 6 September at 252 Oxford Street.
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