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FASHION LABEL GALLOPS TO STYLE VICTORY

The story of Escada could inspire any scriptwriter. Margaretha, from Sweden, was a top model for the Paris-based fashion house, Jacques Fath. More than being a mere model showcasing designers’ collection, the elegant lady was interested in knowing how these designs were made and the whole business of fashion.

Wolfgang Ley was a young and dynamic apparel contractor. When their paths crossed in 1976, they fell in love and became an unbeatable team that would rule the world fashion scene in the years to come. Escada came into the scene when it was believed to be near impossible for any fashion house outside of Italy and France to make a mark in the global fashion market.

The husband-wife team, who operated from Germany, proved otherwise. “Germany did not have a fashion market, it was an apparel market. Our idea was to have a collection for the international market,” Wolfgang Ley, Chairman and CEO, Escada told City Times in an exclusive interview. The ‘idea’ was just perfect for Escada to become a globally recognised brand in few years time after its inception.

Escada offered “top quality in fabrics, fit and workmanship at affordable prices; sophisticated, imaginative design and extremely comfortable wear; and a coordinate system with individual components that were perfectly colour-coordinated to allow mixing and matching through several seasons.” The name Escada apparently did not mean anything. It was the name of a racing horse. “Margaretha took a fascination for the name. Later we found out that the word means ‘spiral staircase’ in Portugese. People then said that our brand would grow like the staircase,” Levy explained. He added, “the horse did not win any race, though”.

Escada’s sales soared from Dh22 million in 1979 to over Dh200 million in just five years. The collections kept getting larger, and the designer team grew with them. Twelve different fashion themes per season, each based on a wide range of different fabrics, were designed to ensure a diversity of styles for individual markets in very different climatic zones. This approach presented both a creative and logistical challenge, but it evidently wasn’t a problem for Ley, as subsidiaries in US, UK, Canada and Japan as well as company stores, franchise boutiques and corners in the largest department stores soon spread the image of the luxury brand around the globe.

After it went public in 1986, diversification appeared to be the best way to reduce the company’s dependence on a single brand. In line with this strategy, starting in 1988, Escada acquired the firms Schneberger, Blusen Neumann, Kemper and Cerutti 1881.

The triumphant string of successes came to a sudden end in 1992, when Margaretha died of cancer at the age of 59. Several turbulent years followed, with the company beset by problems in sales and production.

“Escada by itself never lost any money. Diversification was our biggest mistake. Most of the firms that Escada acquired went bankrupt and that meant trouble for us,” Ley said.

Couple of years back, the company kicked off its efforts to concentrate on its core business by selling Escada Beaute to Wella and entering into a licensing agreement. The company has recently raised 200 million euro bond, which it believes would solve all its problems.

“The restruction process, which we had undertaken, is complete. I would call it a reborn Escada now,” Ley said. “We want our 400 odd Escada stores worldwide to attain a certain standard. Our main investment in the next couple of years will be in the refurbishing of our stores worldwide,” he added.

Ley was in Dubai to witness the opening of Escada’s largest boutique in the Middle East, in Wafi City. Excerpts from the interview.

It did not take a long time for Escada to make a mark in the international fashion scene. What are the factors that you would attribute to its instant success?

The idea was to have an international collection for international women. The idea was to give women worldwide something they really needed — a collection that they would take care of their needs from morning to evening. My late wife’s policy was to make women look great with a combination of colours. This combined with perfect cut and fit would make any women look great. This belief of ours worked well.

Today, we have 32 designers from as many as 15 countries, which includes UK, Columbia, Italy, Russia and China. Today, they bring in the cultural inspirations for the collection.

In Escada, everything from fabrics to the logistics are all our own. Except for our EDP, nothing else from Escada is outsourced. We control every aspect of the business. For us, the brand is not the fashion, but a guarantee for quality and fit.

How difficult is it to make a name for yourself in the fashion world?

If you love somehting, it is never going to be difficult to achieve it. When we started, we did not complain of poor markets or bad economies. We said if something is really outstanding, it would sell. And it worked.

Did you ever think that Escada would go this far?

I thought it would do well in France, but would never be able to do well in Italy or other places. With more and more international designers joining my wife, all of a sudden we gave the market something other designers hadn't. While other designers said, ‘you must wear this’, we said, ‘you have lot of choices’.

Both my wife and I come from poor background. My wife knew exactly what the women wanted. The Escada collection gives women choice for all the 365 days.

Escada was based in Germany and we, initally, needed to ensure our fashion does not resemble German in anyways. In fact, even today many people do not know to which country Escada belongs to.

In today’s fashion world, does the place of your origin still matter?

If it is from Germany, it still matters. There is no fashion from Germany — apart from BOSS for men. It still matters a lot when you say you are from Italy.

Most big fashion brands of today come from either Italy or France.

Colour, elegance, quality and fit — is there anything else that kept Escada ahead of its competition?

Escada stands for those qualities. It certainly does not stand for sloppy and cheap fashion. It does not stand for something that is in the market for couple of weeks and then go out of fashion. It does not stand for vulgarity. Our philosphy has been that women need to respect their culture. Escada provides women with self-esteem, joy and zest for life. For us, every women is a little princess.

You agree to the fact there is a heavy dose of vulgarity in today’s fashion scene.

Yes, there is. It is easy to hit the headlines by making topless celebrities do the catwalk. In recent years, the models in Paris and Milan fashion shows walk naked. This certainly is not fashion. These (designers) will never be able to grow up to beyond a certain level.

How does a fashion house arrive at a season's fashion?

We have six collections every year. It takes 12 to 15 months for a new productline to hit the market. Obviously, you cannot forsee what would be the fashion feeling in 15 months. But if you have a strong brand and a clear direction, you know which colour sold three-four years ago, the same season.

The Escada wardrobe is such that you can recoordinate the pieces that were bought the same season last year.

Would Escada ever get into men’s fashion wear?