Simon Carter: The King Of Cufflinks

Christie Hutchinson | 14th March 2016

SCSS16_Shot_03_0394Simon Cater started in the world of menswear thirty-one years ago subsequent to graduating as an immunologist, but soon after realised science wasn’t for him (who is it for?) Whilst studying, Simon made brooches as hobby, little did he know this would transform into a career and being known as the King of Cufflinks. VIVA caught up with him, whilst he was in Manchester to visit his concession in House of Fraser, to discuss Spring/Summer ’16, business and what if fashion wasn’t everything he’d hoped…

Why did you decide to go into menswear, why not womenswear?

That’s where it began and it just morphed from there. It started out as brooches and then moved into cufflinks. In the 1980s there wasn’t a market for cufflinks because no one was making good pairs. It’s very unusual to create a product and then create a market… people were saying “if you do some of these brooches as cufflinks they would sell”. For ages, and still now, the press refer to me and my brand as the ‘King of Cufflinks’. It’s true to say we probably do make the best cufflinks in the world with the most interesting designs. We then moved into ties, shirts and suits, and everything else followed on from there.

Where is Simon Carter stocked?

House of Fraser, John Lewis and I’ve also got six stores of my own. Five are in the UK, one is in Toronto and I’m in the process of  opening a shop in Johannesburg. We’re very big in Australia… theres a big department store there called David Jones and we’re the biggest seller of suits. We’re also in Harvey Nichols, Hong Kong and I do some collaborations such as my Simon Cater for Harvey Nichols accessories range. Japan is reasonably big as well, they like heritage brands.

Are you always travelling and on the go?

A fair bit. Spring/Summer is just coming in, so I’m visiting my national stores right now.

In terms of your store locations, which one is your favourite to visit? Do you go to Australia and Hong Kong quite often?

More often than you would think considering how far away it is. I was in Australia and Japan is April last year, I try and go every couple of years.

Do you design all your own clothes and patterns?

There is a limit to what I can do. My role is more about managing the brand and I bring people in to fill in the gaps that maybe I’m not an expert in. I know what a Simon Carter shirt is. If you presented me with ten different fabrics, I could pick out which one we should focus on. Everything has my tone of voice and I have a good relationship with all the people in my team. I’ve worked with all of them for over a year… I worked with my previous team for 13 years, I form long term partnerships, so they really get into the DNA of the brand here (UK) and abroad. There are still old fashioned elements to it, where I will sit down with a pen and pencil and draw things out. Whatever goes out into the market with my name on, you can be sure I’ve had an involvement!

What’s your favourite Simon Carter piece that’s been created in the past 31 years?

That’s a tuff question because each season I find something and think ‘oh I love that’. I think there’s a lot of products we’ve created over the years that offer amazing value for money and I wish everyone could understand that. We did a range of sunglasses in the 1990s, which were handmade and beautiful. There was something incredible like 27 hand making processes, where 27 different pairs of hands touched these glasses. Because of where we were at our stage in the market, we weren’t really able to charge enough for them. When I stumble across a pair of these now, I think that what a beautiful product they are. They will last someone forever. It’s a shame because not many people got to see them or buy them.

What is your favourite item of clothing or accessory to wear/buy?

I’m in a lucky position where I don’t have to buy my own clothes. Because of work i tend to get free samples. Up until recently there were a few gaps, like shoes. I have to say, shoes are the one thing i would spend serious money on. I’ve got a few good pairs of shoes. I used to only buy shoes with leather soles, but they are so unpractical.

Who is your main customer?

Its difficult to pigeon hole a Simon Cater customer. I know from my shops that we’ve sold to loads of dads and sons at the same time. The son might have bought some brightly coloured knitwear and the dad might have bought a more sober jacket. I find that quite gratifying. I know as a brand now we probably reach from 20-year-olds to 70-year-olds. I would say the medium for my brand is probably 35 to 45, but they have things in common. They all like design, quality and they aren’t really brand driven. They wouldn’t only wear me, they will mix it up with other brands. I think my brand appeals to people who have things in common rather than a certain demographic. They understand the brand ethos and they become loyal. Once they start buying Simon Carter, they don’t stop and they mix it with other brands. They come back to my shops maybe of every 6 months and buy something new. They feel like with Simon Carter they’ve found a club.

Besides your own, who is your favourite brand?

I’ll buy what it is that I like. I like Paul Smith, I’m a big fan of Zara and I think Uniqlo jeans are great, so it’s a broad spectrum. In all honesty I will wear my own clothes, I probably design for someone like me and I would never sign off on something if I didn’t like it.

When you’re not working, what do you enjoy doing?

I love to play croquet, I play pretty competitively and obsessively… I’ve played for england. I haven’t played much recently, but at my peak I was in the top fifty in the world, number seven I think. It’s an obscure game and us croquet players come in all shapes, sizes and ages. I also love old cars and have an aston Martin and Ferrari at home.

If you hadn’t found yourself working in fashion and in menswear, do you think theres any other path you would have taken?

I frequently look back and think about this. I like writing, I write a column for a monthly magazine and I find that comes extremely easily, so perhaps journalism or writing. If not that then I am fascinated by buildings, so maybe an architectural historian or something around old buildings. If someone told me I could go to a show about menswear or look at something to do with obscure 18th century architecture, I’d be off to the architecture exhibition.

Do you think if you had per sued one of them paths, you would have continued with the brooch designing and making as a hobby?

Possibly not I suppose, because one of them would have been much more consuming as a day job. I think it’s only because I was such a bad scientist that we’re sat here having this conversation.

Follow Simon Carter on Twitter @kingofcufflinks

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