Inflight Magazine of Brussels Airlines

In person

Interview Sheridan Becker

Jeremy Hackett is the co-founder and chairman of the quintessentially British retailer Hackett, a worldwide menswear brand. With sales well over £50m (€64m) per year, Hackett has over 15 shops worldwide. Belgian seaside resort Knokke plays host to Hackett’s largest store. For the younger generation, Hackett was made hip by Princes William and Harry, who sport the brand’s iconic polo shirt.

We caught up with the man more commonly known as Mr. Classic at his base in London

01 Where do you live?

I’ve been living in Stockwell, South West London for about 10 years.

02 Is it true you have plans to head to America?

Yes. We are presently negotiating for a store on Madison Avenue and looking for something downtown. We decided on these locations purely because people in New York are always shopping downtown on weekends!

03 Will you be doing anything different in the States?

Hackett is inspired by
vintage wares at
Portobello market; No, not really. We’ll be keeping everything the same because we don’t want it to be different from our European shops. Otherwise it would devalue what we do.

04 Have you always had a passion for design? When did this start?

I think everything started when I was a precocious five year old! I always had an idea, clothes wise, what I wanted, especially when I went shopping with my parents. While at school I had a job and worked in a clothing shop every Saturday. It was a traditional tailor shop, a ‘gent’s outfitter’ as they would have said in those days. I then started working full time in my hometown of Bristol, after which it was off to Saville Row, where I started selling second-hand clothes with a friend of mine. The rest is history, really.

05 The term “Essential British Kit” is a signature part of the Hackett collection. What is it? Where did this idea come from?

It’s something I came up with in 1992. We had just been taken over by Dunhill’s parent company Richemont. The company suggested I come up with a strap line that encompasses everything Hackett is about. I went away and thought about it. Then I came up with the idea of ‘Essential British Kit’, meaning what we do is basically essential things for men. It’s British, not necessarily in product, but in spirit. And kit is really one of those great English words that men use – sport kit, rugby kit. It’s an old word that resonates well with Hackett, I think. So I put the three together: Essential British Kit.

06 If you had to choose four items to pull together the Essential British Kit, what would they be?

British actor Matthew
Goode (Brideshead
Revisited) is the face of
the autumn/winter
collection

The kit would be: a tweed jacket – we are famous for these jackets! – a pair of corduroys, a polo shirt and anything from the formal-wear collection, perhaps a morning coat or dinner jacket.

07 You are expanding on your children’s line. How did this area of the business come about?

We’ve been doing a children’s line for the past four years, but this only started because of the polo shirt. We used to sell the polo shirt at Heathrow’s Terminal 4. The children’s polo shirt was one of our best-selling items because we would have these hard-working executives, working all week in London, then heading back to whatever country they come from. It was like a guilt purchase because, at the last minute, they needed to buy a gift for the children. So they would purchase a little Hackett polo shirt – which is incredibly smart looking. We also used to sponsor the Pony Club polo, where all the little children would wear the polos, and then interest in the clothes just took off.

It’s quite a nice addition to have the children’s line. We have many young couples and families come into our shops. They want to buy something for the children, so it fits perfectly with us. It’s doing quite well.

08 Are there any particular places you go to find ideas or inspiration for your clothing lines?

a shop
display of Hackett’s
classic sportswear In London I go to Greenwich, Camden and Portobello markets. I can’t resist passing thrift shops. I always go in because you never know what’s going to be inside – I can’t resist it. I still go to the markets too and buy vintage clothes. From time to time I bring the clothes back to the office and show our team. We try to develop and expand on this or that idea from what I find.

09 Some people view Hackett as an institution in London. Do you think they are rather surprised to hear the company is only 25 years old this year?

It’s extraordinary, really (laughing). We are only a 25-year-old company and somehow people believe we are much older – most people think my parents or grandparents started the company! People say: “Oh, you are Mr. Hackett? We expected someone much older. Where’s your father?”

10 What is your goal for the next 10 years?

We have a lot on our plate right now, such as expanding the menswear division. We’re growing steadily throughout Europe, but we’re still quite a small business. It’s extraordinary – the name is much bigger than the business. We’re a small player, but quite fortunate to be able to run with the big boys.

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