Menswear Exchange
Simon Cobb is an entrepreneur based in the United Kingdom. He owns Menswear Exchange which is a mens clothing store specialising in Celebrity fashion, Urban streetwear and Independent brands. We have conducted an interview with him:
What is the speciality of Menswear Exchange? How did you come up with this concept and what inspired you into this business?
Well I guess we have two main specialities (USP's) which would have to be our Inspired Range; which focuses on the latest celebrity trends and current fashion. We sell celebrity/designer inspired by items made from a small collection of reputable fashion houses, located mainly in Italy, I know you're thinking that's what high street stores do but they get the trend around a year after the celebrities/designers, we get the looks within weeks. Our other speciality is our Stock Exchange which is a first of it's kind in the fashion industry. We have a selection of rare and collectible designer clothing from some top names, the beauty of the concept is that buyers can make an offer on the item but also offer to exchange or part exchange their own designer items by attaching images and descriptions to our online Stock Exchange Form, this is a world first for the fashion industry and I'm very proud of it, it's slowly taking off as well which is great! I also take pride in our Independent section where we represent up and coming independent brands and provide them with an additional platform and further exposure to help them grow. I think I've always been dissatisfied with the poor offering online of stores that are dedicated to rare, fashionable and stand out clothing so I've created a store where you're guaranteed to find something that none of your friends will have as opposed to the bland offerings on the high street. I mean I do hold some household names as well but I'm definitely more focused on the individuals in this world that like to stand out and own something a bit more unique.
What is your personal opinion about Men's Fashion?
On a whole I think it can grow, I think now with the help of pioneers like Kanye West we are now seeing more versatile for men than the cliché shirt and tie or t-shirt and jeans. There are also some great designers out there which I love and wear as much as I can, my favourites at the moment are: Kenzo, Kokon To Zai, Katie Eary, Givenchy, Balenciaga and Marcelo Burlon. Designers like this are starting to blur the lines between mens, womens and unisex fashion and I like that because why can't men wear a leopard print t-shirt? I want to support these great figures and continue to break down walls, you know back in 2005 it was "uncool" for a man to wear skinny jeans, then Kanye wears them and suddenly they're cool, same recently with leather trousers, why do we have to be influenced by celebrity and the media? Now that the choices out there are becoming more diverse and mens designs are becoming more interesting I think we are now being influenced by our peers rather than just the media and this is something that has played into my philosophy with Menswear Exchange and I'm just fortunate that I've been ahead of the trend this far. I'm actually starting a designer label named after my son ARLO which I'm really excited about, I'm working really hard on collating the right colours and textures and I can't wait to express myself within this new boom of versatile menswear.
Tell me more about ARLO and what you have planned for that? Do you have anything else planned for the future besides Menswear Exchange and ARLO?
Well I have two; one is called ARLO and will be a very personal project, it will be an extremely limited collection of t-shirts, painted jeans, sweatshirts and hoodies. I will be sourcing the highest quality materials and I'm going after the luxury market with this as it's named after my son and he means the world to me so I'm only putting my best into this. My other clothing label (a collaborative project between myself and 2 partners) which will definitely be launching in September is called Three Dreams and will be a streetwear label focused as an affordable brand as opposed to ARLO. On launch we will have a selection of logo printed tees, snapbacks, sweatshirts and beanies in black, white and grey, we will also be launching with printed leather jackets, paisley patterned extended tees, faux leather panelled t-shirts, sweatshirts, faux leather trousers and some all over print t-shirts (designs to be finalised). With Three Dreams we are to be competitively priced but also offer great innovative designs which will represent everything we love, we are only putting love and hard work into what we do.
Which are the ten most popular brands in your featured list?
Currently our most popular brands in order would have to be:
1. IC Story
2. D4
3. Volume Sound
4. Polo Ralph Lauren
5. Converse All Star
6. Attachment
7. Katie Eary
8. Lupin
9. Our very own: M by Menswear Exchange range (which is a budget range for the price conscious)
10. Levi Strauss
What makes your shipping policy competitive enough?
Over the past 6 months we've had a major overhaul, we were well known before for stocking luxury branded products but we felt it didn't really fit our demographic and customers weren't really buying from more than one department at a time so we've replaced our Ready To Wear department with an Independent department which is already proving more popular. Before we had a free delivery if you spend £250 but now we are stocking less expensive products and fewer luxury items we will be changing this to spend £100 and receive free delivery which is very competitive. Our standard shipping prices are not for profit and the customer generally pays what it costs us as a flat rate. Customer can also enjoy 10% off the Inspired Range when they spend £100 or more so theres always a chance to save and that's not even including our year long sale.
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