As the Cambridge Satchel Company launches its new range on Tmall before anywhere else, Oscar Holland meets with founder Julie Deane OBE to discuss the company's expansion and the appeal of British brands in China.
There is something distinctly British about the way Julie Deane apologizes for arriving late to our interview after a Beijing taxi ordeal. Yet there is something even more British about the solution to her fluster: she orders us a bottle of wine.
It is this very Britishness – both of Deane and her Cambridge Satchel Company – that has brought her to Beijing. Her brand’s charming leather bags, openly modeled on those Harry Potter might carry at Hogwarts, have been explosively popular in the UK. And now, they’re proving hugely popular in China as well. In a move that looks to capitalize on the UK’s cultural cachet here (as demonstrated by the success of shows like Sherlock and Downton Abbey), the company is preparing to launch its new range on Tmall before anywhere else in the world.
“China’s a really, really important market for us,” Deane explains. “When I first came in 2013 I was amazed that people had already heard of the brand and I thought: ‘I’ve got to get on Tmall.’ We sold 8,000 bags On our first Singles’ Day. Amazing.”
This surge in orders was nothing new. In fact, it has become a relatively regular occurrence over the past eight years, in which time Deane has gone from making satchels in her kitchen with just GBP600 (RMB5,780) in the bank to turning over GBP7.5 million (RMB72 million). Upscaling could carry some risk, especially given the brand’s focus on handmade quality, but Deane appears confident in her ability to expand into China.
“We could double our production pretty quickly,” she says. “We were [in China] four times last year. We’re poised and ready, which is why we’re making these trips.”
Yet the challenge for The Cambridge Satchel Company is not simply one of opening up new markets. Like many fashion brands that exploded into public consciousness with a single iconic product – such as Uggs and Crocs – diversification will be essential for its longevity. With the company making losses of GBP5.4 million (RMB52 million) last year, compared to profits of GBP1.4 million (RMB13.5 million) the year before, keeping the brand relevant in the fickle fashion world poses the greatest long-term test.
“I wouldn’t do clothes,” Deane says firmly. “I’m not a designer and there are other people who can do that way better than me. But we can diversify our product range with a real authenticity without looking like I need to make shower curtains just because I want some extra top line.
“I think [the original satchel] has a very iconic shape and look. It will always be our backbone. But there’s a lot you can do when you have such a recognizable shape. You’ve got prints, like our Vivienne Westwood one, and you’ve got the different colors. You can take it in a few different directions.”
The company’s latest range, named ‘Poppy' (pictured right), aims to tow this line. While still recognizable from the original satchel, the new products are distinct enough to offer wearers a very different use for the bags. (“It’s sort of like a doctor’s bag but also a handbag – it’s very elegant and a bit more feminine,” Deane explains.) It seems well-suited to the Chinese market, and Deane is aware that she won’t break into China by replicating the approach used in Western markets.“I think a lot of men in China wear edgier bags than in a lot of other places. In Britain, men tend to go for the dark brown, navy, black. And red is of course really popular here,” she says, before listing magnetic closures and matching couples’ bags as other localized trends she’s taken into account.
“The bags are already doing well in first-tier [Chinese] cities because that’s where the awareness is. As awareness grows elsewhere, I think our customer base will too. We deliver anywhere in China. Give us a challenge – back of beyond – and we’ll do it.”
With this challenge, Deane shows flashes of the ambition that earned her an Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to entrepreneurship. For all the ways in which she is eminently likable, there is certainly something hard-nosed and business-like about our interview (despite the wine), in which she is direct and unerringly on-message.
Deane’s achievements have seen her accompanying the British government on a high-profile trade delegation to China, and being invited by Jack Ma to give talks on entrepreneurship. She is lauded in the UK press as a role-model for businesswomen. But does she mind being held up as an inspiration for female entrepreneurs rather than small businesses in general?
“As long as they don’t call me a mumpreneur,” she despairs with a laugh. “That has happened, but never twice by the same person. That’s really demeaning. People don’t make allowances [for parents] in business – you’ve just got to be good enough.”
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