LONDON — Rise & Fall, the U.K.-based direct-to-consumer brand that’s had a viral moment for offering quality cotton and linen bedding, is looking to replicate that success with its men’s offering, which includes cotton T-shirts, linen bomber jackets, denim shirts, and an array of cashmere sweaters retailing for under $300.
According to the brand’s creative director, Natalie Hasseck, the price is competitive because the company adopts a just-in-time supply system, and works directly with quality material suppliers and factories. In the case of cashmere, it buys in bulk from the source of the material, which is Inner Mongolia, and gets everything made by trusted manufacturers in China.
Hasseck said that despite men’s being a fairly new category, it has overtaken bedding in recent months. “Some customers still only know us as a bedding business. We have a fitted sheet that has this extra grippy elastic. It had the same virality as the cashmere knitted hood,” she added.
With a compound annual growth rate of over 100 percent since its inception three-and-a-half years ago, the brand has sold over 30,000 pieces of cashmere, 50,000 fitted sheets, and 20,000 duvet bundles, and is “comfortably doing eight figures” this year, she said.
A look from Rise & Fall’s fall collection.
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To double down on the men’s offering, the brand recently hired Claire French, who for the past six years headed design at Mr Porter’s in-house label Mr. P. In her new role as head of product at Rise & Fall, French is building a men’s wardrobe with a material-first approach.
“We’re able to give the customer a beautiful product because we spend a lot of time in a very rigorous process sourcing our materials,” she said. “We now work with fabric mills and yarn spinners that I have worked with previously at Burberry and Mr. P, so the quality of the product is very much on par with a luxury brand.”
With the just-in-time model, Rise & Fall is operating with agility. When a style becomes popular, the brand is able to scale swiftly because it holds the yarn at the factory.
“If something’s not working, we can pivot and repurpose that yarn. The idea is that no product is going to end up in a discount bargain bin, or even worse, landfill,” French added.
A look from Rise & Fall’s fall collection.
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Amid a saturated fashion market, she believes the brand’s pricing and quality strategy is helping it gain consumer dollars.
“Our margins are very modest compared to others I’ve worked in, where you operate at 80 percent plus margins. Ours are very lean. So we’re able to give beautiful products for a fair price, and the volume is key in profitability since we sell a lot more quantities of the same items,” she explained.
For fall, the brand is gradually introducing more outerwear options, such as a wool-cashmere blend double-faced coat, priced at 395 pounds, and a Mac coat, retailing for 375 pounds, made with cotton-based fabric from British Millerain, a mill in the north of England.
The brand claims that these items cost a fraction of the price of similar pieces from other brands, and price comparison under each product is a key feature on its website. For example, the brand listed under the 225-pound original price of a black cashmere sweater that a similar version would be sold at Johnstons of Elgin for 495 pounds.
Both Hasseck and French are betting on the loyalty and discernment of the male customer for the brand’s future growth.
“The male customer is incredibly loyal. Once he finds a product or a brand that works for him, he will very much repeat buy. That’s what we’ve worked on this season — how do we give him the full look? What’s he wearing for the weekend? What does he want for special events?” said French.
A look from Rise & Fall’s winter collection.
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Hasseck noted that the Rise & Fall customers are those who are not shopping for the thrill of it.
“There’s no denying that he comes in on price. Price is absolutely key to all of this, but he’s discerning. He knows quality, and he knows brands. He doesn’t want fussy menswear. Beautiful, understated, kind of quietly confident pieces, and that’s what we’ve planned to deliver,” Hasseck added.
Looking ahead, the plan is global and physical.
The brand recently launched in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand, and is looking at pop-up opportunities next year. “We really try to tell the story of fabrics. It’s so difficult until you touch that cotton and cashmere to appreciate how lovely it feels,” Hasseck said.
