Ron Dorff Founder Claus Lindorff on becoming more of a lifestyle brand and taking swimwear “to another level”

Claus Lindorff began his career in finance in London before moving into advertising in Paris where he founded BETC Luxe – an agency specialising in fashion and luxury brands with clients including Louis Vuitton, Giorgio Armani, Jil Sander and Lacoste.

Then, in 2012, he created his own brand, Ron Dorff, starting out with just five basic pieces – a T-shirt, a sweatshirt, a pair of gym shorts, a swimming trunk and a sneaker – “which combined Swedish design and functionality with French style”.

The brand’s statement Tees and sweats have been popular from the start, with the ‘Dad’ print one of the best sellers from recent years, but becoming more of a lifestyle brand and upgrading menswear staples across sportswear, loungewear and underwear have been the real key to Ron Dorff’s growth, as well as also appealing more to women.

Lindorff said: “Of course we are a menswear brand, but more and more women wear men’s products, so it becomes unisex. We said we’d never want to do Ron Dorff ‘for women’, but we have a sub-brand called ‘His for Her’, which I love. It’s the idea that a woman goes into her boyfriend’s closet and takes his favourite sweater to wear.

“That sub-brand will be used more going forward – especially with a collaboration we are doing with a womenswear brand next year. Overall, as it stands at the moment, I would say that 15%-20% of people who buy Ron Dorff are women. And they don’t only buy for their boyfriends, they buy for themselves as well, because the cuts work for both men and women.”

For more from Ron Dorff, listen to our podcast with Claus Lindorff.

Lindorff says that people generally get introduced to Ron Dorff through its underwear, and while swimwear was a spin-off from that, they are now looking to take it “to another level”. He said: “It seems so easy, but it’s one of the most difficult thing to do. We made some horrible swimwear in the beginning! But when you get it right, you have a great product. Our swimwear has gone through the roof in the last three years, and now it represents around 25% of our yearly sales – because people don’t only go on holiday in June.

“Most brands come out with a swimwear collection in April, and it’s on Sale from August. We sell our swimwear throughout the year, because people go on holiday throughout the year. They want some nice swimwear and don’t necessarily want to buy it in the gift shop at their hotel – inevitably with palm tree or coconut prints on them.

“We would never put monkeys, palm trees or coconuts on our swimwear, though other brands do that perfectly well. We’re a very minimalist brand, and I like it when it’s just plain colours – but we always introduce new colours. This spring/summer the colours are very much inspired by the Amalfi coast in Italy. We also do a lot of stripes and this year we are introducing check prints, so we shall see how they go.”

Also on the holidaying note, Ron Dorff has a new ‘Mykonos Boy’ collection coming out this spring in partnership with renowned Mykonos boutique, beach club and restaurant, Jackie O’.

Lindorff commented: “Jackie O’ is the biggest owner of beaches, restaurants and nightclubs in Mykonos. They contacted us about three years ago and asked if we could do a collaboration because they liked the brand a lot. So, first of all, we designed the uniforms for their teams on the beach, as well as all their beach towels.

“That worked really well, and we became the number one brand sold by Jackie O’ in their store in Mykonos. Since then, we’ve been doing a collection every year, but now we dress their staff on the beach, in the restaurants in town and in their nightclubs as well.

“We have a new collection coming out in May called Mykonos Boy which is signed by Ron Dorff and Jackie O’, and it will be sold exclusively in our stores and online, as well as in Jackie O’s big store in Mykonos.”

As well as the increased swimwear offer, Ron Dorff is also launching sunglasses for the first time this spring, in partnership with TBD Eyewear from Milan.

Lindorff said: “What we do well, we do well, but what we don’t know how to do we do with people who know what they’re doing. TBD is a great eyewear manufacturer based in Milan, Italy, and it also has a focus on sustainability. I found the brand when I was in Florence last year and they do fantastic glasses. So, I contacted them and we set up a collaboration. We’re launching our first dual branded sunglasses in April. I think it’s important to work with people who know what they’re doing, and it’s the same thing with other things we do.”

Another fresh addition to the Ron Dorff offer this spring are hand sewn espadrilles in partnership with Bayona from the Basque region. Lindorff explained: “It’s a French brand but from the Basque country. The shoes are made on the Spanish side of the border with France. Espadrilles are a typical Basque shoe that have been around for ages, but often you buy them for five euros and they fall apart after two seconds. They get wet and they smell horribly!

“But Bayona have been making them for over 150 years and they are like the Rolls Royce of espadrilles. It’s still a family run business and I fell in love with their shoes when I saw them in Saint-Jean-de-Luz last summer. I contacted the family and they loved our brand, so that’s how come we’re doing a limited-edition collection for this spring/summer. We’re very proud to be able to work with both TBD and Bayona.”

Lindorff continues his discussion on TheIndustry.fashion's podcast.