AN EYE FOR LOAFERS

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I’m Archie Hewlett, the Founder and Creative Director of D&D, a footwear brand that I started four years ago. When I started out at 18, I had absolutely zero experience in fashion and business and had already decided not to go to university. After being told I wouldn’t be able to get a job, I ended up taking up a job in property recruitment in London and that lasted for about five months before I decided to set up D&D. I am now 23.

How did D&D come into being?

There are two sides to this answer: Firstly, I wanted a new set up to change my lifestyle. I was working in property recruitment, living in London with my dad, and it wasn’t just work during the day, but it was also taking work home and it was a life I hated. I realised you will enjoy everything if you make the big picture work. The whole commuting on the tube everyday was just a very negative cycle. I was desperate to move back home (Oxford) and to not have to commute like that ever again.

Then D&D formed to become something I could work on from home, so I was able to work in Oxford, unbelievably so as my home was a barn in the middle of the English countryside. Looking back, I don’t think I would have the mental capability to do that again, working from an old farm, living with my mum while my dad was working in London. How I managed a year sitting in a barn astonishes me now, but it didn’t faze me at the time, I worked 24/7 to get the brand on its feet. Then I made the decision to move back to London in November 2015. I moved back to London to build a team and we started off with a three desk office in Battersea.

Do you lead the work hard play hard lifestyle?

I’m very understated in that sense, I’ve always shied away from big parties, I’m not a club person, I stay healthy and go the gym most evenings. Wait, that’s definitely a lie, I don’t go most evenings, but I do try to switch off and get away from the office. I’m still learning how to balance work and life, I run at a million miles an hour and never stop. I’ll usually leave the office at around 9-10pm, head to gym, then get back onto emails. I certainly won’t try and preach but there are times in life where you’ll have to accept that working this hard has to be the way. I do love food though and going to new restaurants or checking out new brands or art from other independent creatives. I see a lot of creativity and art in food.

What is it about loafers that you find so awesome?

I think the versatility of loafers is what really drew me in. We created a base silhouette and once we had this shoe structure, we could then use so many different materials, for instance, choose to run with suede in 200 different colour tones, or have the loafers made using embroidered materials, or get them custom-made by us or the customer, or try out loads of funky prints. There are very few shoe types that you can do that much with.

Do you wear anything else besides loafers?

I’m a massive fan of shoes as a whole and of so many different brands, namely other independent brands and trainer brands. I don’t wear anyone else’s loafers that’s for sure but I don’t just wear loafers all the time. I love trainers, independent trainer brands such as Axel Arigato and Filling Pieces, really independent and cool brands with great designers behind them. But there is so much versatility in all the different shoe types, and celebrating all these creative designs from my industry is a very cool thing.

How important is fashion to you?

Really important. It’s a really social and exciting way of expressing yourself — it goes way beyond just wearing something expensive or flamboyant, but the creative insight that goes with fashion, how to wear something each day or what it is you admire about one fashion item and don’t like in another, says a lot about you and your tastes and personality. Fashion is all about expressing your creative nature. It’s also an industry that — especially when it comes to British shoemaking — has not changed much and is still very elementary in its manufacturing processes. Of course, there are clever gadgets and pieces of technology used nowadays, but underneath all of that there are incredibly talented craftsmen, using just their hands and traditional tooling to carefully build every shoe. In an ever-changing world that’s becoming more and more orientated around technology and services, there’s something very refreshing and exciting about fashion being as it always has been. The UK shoe manufacturing sector won’t really change in the foreseeable future and I kind of like that.

What advice would you give to people wanting to start their own fashion brand?

There’s so much I could say in response here! Innovation and originality is the key in whatever you do. The number of times we have watched people all over the world try to replicate and directly copy what we do is astonishing, and ultimately, it just won’t work. If you want to be a part of the major department stores, be a major player in the industry and build a loyal customer base, there’s only so far you can go if you don’t have your own ideas or concepts. People think they can get away with it and that people won’t notice but clients and retail stores will shut you down — they know and see everything, especially in today’s world. Our clients are loyal and they will fight for us against copycat brands. The fashion industry is extremely competitive, but there’s always space for new innovation and creatives. I think as a general message: prepare for what’s to come because it can and will get extremely hard at times. There are days where you just want to hide, but you can’t because you are the one behind it all and it all depends on you. If you really want to build something, you must prepare for everything, as it doesn’t come easy. It’s a hell of a lot of hard work, but if you truly believe in something and have a real passion for it, you will get through the tough times just as easily as you get through the good times — and there’s plenty of them as well!