London’s king of collecting adds Parisian flair to creative hoard
AS publishing debuts go, Raoul Shah’s new book is pretty unusual. His forthc o mi n g o p u s i s , e r, a n anthology of hotel “Do Not Disturb” signs. The exhibits are from his own collection, started on a childhood trip to America when kitsch “Maid, Clean My Room” signs attracted his attention and ended up stuffed in his suitcase.
The book crystallises a lifetime’s careful hoarding, also evidenced by Shah’s Fitzrovia office for Exposure, the creative agency group he has built over 25 years. The tight man-cave is carefully lined with the last of his once-vast Converse and Nike shoe hoard; tons of pictures, including a shot of The Clash in a Cadillac (he’s working on a release from Joe Strummer’s archive this year) and Be@rbricks, the Japanese toys with a cult following.
It’s not just collectables the north Londoner has gathered along the way. He has landed marquee clients such as Microsoft, Coca-Cola and Nike, and a heap of start-ups. The group, through its various agencies, offers everything from events and design to straight marketing and PR. His work has seen him rub shoulders with everyone from rapper Jay-Z — whose champagne brand he helped to launch — to Prince Charles and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Its foundations have helped keep Shah’s feet on the ground, literally. The Manchester graduate used a back- ground in fashion, at Paris’s Agnès B and then Pepe Jeans in London, to create what is now known as “influencer marketing”, or essentially product placement. A chance contact made while running a night at Notting Hill’s Subterania saw him being paid to give out shoes for Converse.
The music-mad club promoter, whose Indian parents brought him up in Kenya and London, thumbed through his little black book of DJs, musicians, models, store owners and creative industry types to give the streetwear to. Soon enough, photos of the shoes on the feet of the famous landed in glossy mags, and other brands began demanding Shah’s services. He recalls: “I thought, someone’s going to pay me to give shoes away? There must be something hidden. After a year, I’d become a business without realising what I’d worked on in the first place.”
Before long, he had added a PR business to his product placement work and his empire has grown ever since. Crucially the arrival of co-chief executive and best friend Tim Bourne in 1997 added advertising experience, and the pair launched into the drinks industry. At one memorable event, they transformed south London’s Ministry of Sound club into a planetarium.
Shah believes the key to his business is to ensure he constantly has “young, dynamic” staff working on projects they are passionate about. Collaboration with clients is also key: “Energy and chemistry with other people have driven me throughout my career, rather than ‘is the cheque big enough?’”
One cheque which caused a headache was the £1 million Exposure splashed out 10 years ago to buy food and film specialist Thrsxty. “It was a big decision: we were looking at ways to accelerate growth by diversifying into other sectors,” recalls Shah. “For two years it was very profitable, then the film market fell away and the food was faltering. We changed management team three times, but it never quite worked. My lesson to myself is that we are really good at starting things from scratch where we have full control and only ourselves either to blame or thank. Integrating another business is difficult.”
With the help of ex-Freuds and Via- gogo executive Oli Wheeler, Thrsxty is now a pillar of the group, managing corporate reputations for bosses worldwide. Likewise, Scene — its beauty agency which has bolted on nutrition and fitness — is another key venture.
Pe rh a p s S h a h’s mo s t a mb i t i o u s project lies ahead. Keen not to rest on his laurels, the group this year launched The Supermarket, in Paris. He is filling the huge warehouse in Le Marais with furniture and graphic designers, film- makers and photographers, taking nominal rent and commission while they work collaboratively with his businesses.
“It’s part of our mandate as an independent business of a certain size that you have to effect change,” Shah adds. He hopes to replicate the model in Milan soon, and ultimately London.
It seems there’s plenty ahead. Do Not Disturb.