{"id":221861,"date":"2022-12-12T17:00:08","date_gmt":"2022-12-12T17:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theindustry.fashion\/?p=221861"},"modified":"2023-01-04T10:58:21","modified_gmt":"2023-01-04T10:58:21","slug":"the-interview-a-state-of-nature-founders-on-winning-shaftsburys-soho-incubator-project-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theindustry.fashion\/the-interview-a-state-of-nature-founders-on-winning-shaftsburys-soho-incubator-project-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"A State of Nature founders on winning Shaftesbury\u2019s \u2018Soho Incubator Project\u2019 competition"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last month saw young British unisex brand A State of Nature announced as the winner of Central London landlord Shaftesbury\u2019s \u2018Soho Incubator Project\u2019 competition<\/span><\/a>, giving it the chance to have a rent-free 658 sq ft pop-up shop at 99 Berwick Street in the heart of Soho.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The shop opened on Friday 2 December 2022, for a period of three months. Not bad considering the Hackney based brand \u2013 which perfectly fit Shaftesbury\u2019s sustainability and inclusivity credentials - was only founded by young up-and-coming design duo (and husband and wife) Nick Eisa and Barbara Fidler-Wieruszewska during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.<\/p>\n

One week into their three month Soho tenancy, Eisa and Fidler-Wieruszewska tell TheIndustry.fashion\u2019s Contributing Editor, Tom Bottomley, what it was like to win, how it\u2019s going so far and what their plans are for the future.<\/p>\n

Why and how did you launch A State of Nature?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nick Eisa: <\/strong>Barbara\u2019s a fantastic shirtmaker and a great designer. I had a lot of experience in bespoke shoemaking and luxury handbags. All of it planted firmly in the luxury world.<\/p>\n

Barbara Fidler-Wieruszewska:<\/strong> We always admired well designed and made and workwear. Through the years of working as designers we learned about the industry. Time spent at the factories looking at products being made was one of our favourite things about being designers. In fact, this got us thinking about retraining as craftspeople. Nick and I discovered that craft drives our imagination, and eventually took the plunge and transitioned from design to making.<\/p>\n

We wanted to continue to make products at the same high standard we were trained for, but we\u2019re both uncomfortable with the exclusivity of the Mayfair world. We wanted to bring the high quality we had learnt to our customers at a more accessible price point. Every shirt we make is still made in London by independent seamstresses and we don\u2019t intend on changing that.<\/p>\n

You started the brand in 2020 during the pandemic - how did that affect things? <\/strong><\/p>\n

BFW:<\/strong> The pandemic accelerated our thinking and planning. We\u2019d never run a business like this before, so the difficulties just seemed like an everyday reality for us. Now that the pandemic is tailing off, we can really feel the difference. It\u2019s so nice to see customers and chat in person.<\/p>\n

NE:<\/strong> We started out with one shirt. The idea was that, firstly, Barbara is an excellent shirtmaker capable of producing an amazing level of quality and, secondly, we were both good pattern cutters. We wanted to make and sell handcrafted clothing, but didn\u2019t want it to be so expensive that only a Savile Row\/Mayfair customer could afford it. But we also wanted to keep the quality really high, and keep it made in London, by us or by other skilled craftspeople.<\/p>\n

How did you get the word out to promote your new business in such strange times?<\/strong><\/p>\n

NE:<\/strong> Instagram has always been our focus as far as online platforms go. We use it to build our following, maintain a running blog of our activities, and it\u2019s the centre of our advertising efforts. Our Instagram started its life as Barbara\u2019s personal account. We changed the name to A State of Nature around the time we made our first shirt, and it\u2019s grown pretty steadily from there.<\/p>\n

There have been a few leaps forward, not because of major events but because of new products we\u2019ve released. People seem to gravitate towards our profile because of design and craftsmanship. That\u2019s what we like to see!\u00a0 We\u2019re at about 17,000 followers now and we\u2019re really proud of that growth.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Where did you hear about Shaftesbury\u2019s \u2018Soho Incubator Project\u2019 competition and did you think you had a strong case to win it when you entered?<\/strong><\/p>\n

BFW:<\/strong> As a growing business we\u2019re always on the lookout for support. And there are a lot of great opportunities out there for spaces, financial support, business mentoring, you name it.<\/p>\n

NE:<\/strong> We've always been confident about our skills. That\u2019s why we both felt comfortable moving from design to making. When we applied to the Shaftesbury competition we knew we had a strong proposal because our brand is a reflection of us and what we love doing. And what we love doing is making beautiful objects out of cloth and leather. It\u2019s what we were trained to do and it defines us as people.<\/p>\n

What do you think you brought to the table that was always going to be different to what other entrants had?<\/strong><\/p>\n

BFW:<\/strong> From an outside perspective people see us as different because we make our products onsite. We had some sense of how special that was before opening the pop-up, but running the space has really drilled it home. People love seeing us working away on Berwick Street. Our brand is all about getting to know the people who make your clothes, that\u2019s a pretty rare opportunity, and we were so happy to learn the people at Shaftesbury agreed with us.<\/p>\n

Was having your own shop after initially just trading online from your website always the dream?<\/strong><\/p>\n

BFW:<\/strong> We enjoy both sides of the business - in person and e-commerce. We have a lot of international customers from the USA and Canada who would find it very hard to get involved without e-commerce. We build and maintain our relationships with them via emails and online sales. On the other hand, it\u2019s so nice to see our UK based customers visiting us in Soho. We\u2019ve actually had quite a few visits from people who follow us on Instagram who wanted to see us, and the product, in person.<\/p>\n

What does this pop-up mean for your business?<\/strong><\/p>\n

NE: <\/strong>Taking a step into renting a commercial space without any initial testing is a high risk. Winning this competition gave us a great opportunity to try things out before making the decision about moving somewhere permanently.<\/p>\n\n\t\t