Daily Mail

How Ted Baker left High Street rivals standing

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Certain fashion tycoons think nothing of allowing themselves to appear on the front pages in all their oiled and paunchy glory, with tummies as brown as a rotisserie chicken spilling over the waistband of their Bermuda shorts.

ray Kelvin, founder of the ted Baker chain – he doesn’t like to call it a retailer, but a ‘lifestyle brand’ – presents himself as a more retiring sort.

So bashful, in fact, that he won’t allow his full face to be photograph­ed. the 61-year-old has previously said he applies the veto because he thinks he’s ‘an ugly blighter’. With his steely by Ruth Sunderland grey locks and stylish horn-rimmed specs, though, he’s actually rather handsome. now he claims he ‘doesn’t want his personalit­y or face to be the brand’.

So, there are pictures of his forehead peeking out from behind a sofa, with the lower half of his phizog concealed by the cushions.

in other photograph­s, half his visage is hidden under a towel, or shielded by a book ( see top right).

Whatever the reason, his quirky approach is producing impressive results at a time when others such as Marks & Spencer and Sir Philip Green’s arcadia have seen their profits drop like a stone.

Having worked in his family clothing business in north London since he was 11, Kelvin set up ted Baker selling men’s shirts in Glasgow. it took off in the ‘acid house’ era of the 1990s, when its brightly coloured shirts became popular with club-goers.

the brand has since become a hit with women who flock to buy its skirts and dresses, such as this summer’s hit, a £160 Oriental Blossom midi-skirt.

Fans include Kate Middleton and amal Clooney ( pictured) along with millions of ordinary women.

ted Baker’s latest sales figures show an increase of more than 14pc in its stores and a huge rise of nearly 36pc in online sales. that’s not bad, considerin­g rivals are blaming everything from the fall in the pound to a squeeze on household incomes for the damage to their bottom lines.

ted Baker’s secret – which it shares with the likes of Zaraowner inditex and Mulberry – is quality at an affordable price.

Of course, ‘affordable’ is a relative concept in fashion. But what Zara, Mulberry and ted Baker have in common is they offer good quality fashion fixes at a price their fans are prepared to pay.

and while some may find the ted Baker ethos irritating­ly arch rather than endearingl­y quirky, it has made ray Kelvin very rich.

He owns a 35pc stake in ted Baker and has seen his holding increase in value by 160pc in the past five years. the company is worth more than £1bn.

the rich lists estimate his total personal fortune at just under half a billion, though it’s not something he will comment on because ‘it’s not nice to talk about money’. However much he’s worth exactly, he has done well for a boy who was brought up in Cockfoster­s, north London, which his late mum trudie told him to pronounce ‘Co’fosters’ to sound posher. He lives in Hampstead with his second wife Clare, 46, whom he married five years ago. they have a daughter, ava, 4.

He has two sons – Ben and Josh, both in their 20s – with first wife Georgia Slowe, who appeared in soap opera emmerdale as lady of the manor Perdita Hyde-Sinclair.

insiders talk about ‘ted’ as if he really existed but, of course, he doesn’t – although it’s not entirely clear ray realises.

again, there are several versions of why Kelvin plumped to call his business ‘ted Baker’, one being that he didn’t want his own name in case it went bust. ‘ray is the closest man to ted,’ a spokesman says, and in truth, ted comes across more like an imaginary friend than a brand name.

in the past, ray Kelvin has described ted as ‘a pioneering fashion icon, an intrepid aviator, an all-round sportsman and consort of princesses and Hollywood beauties’.

But cultivatin­g an alter ego is not Kelvin’s only eccentrici­ty. Others include cuddling people, though he says it is not true his staff are forced to hug him before they can speak, which is probably just as well in today’s politicall­y correct office climate.

He does, however, have a sign reading ‘Hug Here’ on the floor by his desk.

‘ted has a hugging culture where everyone is treated with respect and meetings often start that way,’ he says. ‘that’s apart from latecomers to meetings, who are made to do pressups as a punishment.’

it may all sound utterly bonkers, but ray – and ted – have created one of the most successful fashion brands in Britain, so there must be method in the madness.

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