Scotch & Soda Evolves Its Always Original Approach With Fresh Inspiration and Global Perspective
The fashion brand is continuing to evoke and through designs under Bluestar Alliance’s management.
THE LAST YEAR has been a time of notable growth for standout contemporary brand Scotch & Soda. Under the management of its new parent company, Bluestar Alliance, the brand launched buzz-worthy collaborations (which included a partnership with Joe Jonas), strategic expansion of product categories and increased global retail locations.
The comprehensive evolution has been fast but effective, bringing the once menswear-only brand to a much wider audience who have been quick to embrace the brand’s unique perspective and inspirational candor. Scotch &
Soda’s ongoing global penetration across major retailers internationally and domestically includes Zalando, Bloomingdale’s, Anthropologie, Dillard’s, Macy’s, Saks Fifth Avenue and specialty boutiques which Bluestar Alliance reports seeing great opportunity for the brand.
Today’s Scotch & Soda design team continues to foster a bold approach to style that has been unwavering in its originality, celebrating authenticity and community with an endless supply of optimism. The energy of the brand mirrors the life around it, often referencing the free spirit of Amsterdam where it was built, but always taking inspiration from global commonality.
Scotch & Soda’s design directors of the Men and Women collections describe their designs today to be aimed at “making the
wearer feel authentic and allow for self-expression with a design process rooted in optimism to spread love and joy to each Scotch & Soda customer.”
Often the design team will travel to find inspiration for upcoming collections, taking trips to cities and vintage markets to find treasures. Their approach is all in service of celebrating the free spirit of Amsterdam. They find elements to create, inspire and evoke this feeling.
“With each collection, we aim to celebrate the optimism, love and inclusivity of Amsterdam and its people,” said Chloe Struyk, codesign director at Scotch & Soda. “This is done though the creation of authentic and optimistic items that promote self-expression. This is a constantly evolving process, I am relatively new to the brand, so I see the archive and the inspiration through fresh eyes, and even Amsterdam itself through fresh eyes. It is very special to live in the Netherlands and work for a brand so inspired by its surroundings.”
Struyk said fresh perspective is the case with each new theme and each new collaboration as well, encouraging both in-house staff and collaborators to see things anew. The first stop for inspiration is always Scotch & Soda’s rich achievement of almost 40 years of past collections that capsulate unique celebrations of the history of Amsterdam. The design team also aims to take a trip together each season for inspiration. This involves sightseeing, shopping, exhibitions and visiting antique and flea markets.
“The brand is heavily inspired by vintage and historical garments and prints, and we are lucky to have a huge archive that reflects this,” said Struyk. “The Amsterdam HQ is a magpie nest of trinkets, antiques and textile samples, inspiration is packed into every corner.”
Moreover, when considering the vision of the brand’s design, Rudolph Holmond, co-design director at Scotch & Soda, said “each coming season we take time to evaluate the global mood and aim to create a brief that is reflective but also hopeful for a bright and optimistic future. As we are not a trend-led brand, we are able to remain authentic in our selfexpression, looking back to our rich archive again and again each season with a new lens.”
When it comes to designing creative collaborations, Holmond and Struyk said that when deciding on a seasonal theme, they keep in mind how it can be enriched through collaboration. The themes always have a focus around music, art and love which collaborating partners can add energy and authenticity to.
Holmond and Struyk went on to say that the design team tends to stay away from trend forecasts to be true to the brand’s heritage and carve a different path than competitors, instead preferring to create proprietary market and brand research. The team does, however, stay engaged with the world of arts and culture to holistically keep relevance in the market.
“As we work primarily from vintage/historical references in combination with research from books, museums and art exhibitions it results in highly original prints and designs,” said Struyk. “We have an extremely creative studio that encourages designers to create through draping on the stand, embroidering and hand painting. Each season we apply the same logic which means the result is always original and truly authentic to the brand.”
With this in mind, Holmond and Struyk said they design for everyone. “We hope to deliver a collection that resonates with the buyer, whether they are as geeks as we are about the seasonal direction and reference points does not matter. We aim to deliver beautiful, crafted garments that are free from pretense.”
From a product perspective, the co-design directors said they hope that through the brand’s rich history in print, it can become a go-to for the range of men’s and women’s vast wardrobe expression needs, including denim, suiting, knitwear and women’s dresses. The team has notably taken steps to expand and diversify knits which put the brand in a unique place in the market given its price point.
There has also been significant growth in the children’s apparel category with matching mother, father and child with styles that highlight the joy of expression. Retailers such as Mytheresa and Nordstrom, among others, have seen increased interest in matching styles for the family.
Ralph Gindi, cofounder and chief operating officer at Bluestar Alliance, said that one of the company’s strategies for growth is to “add key item drivers to the assortment to maximize volume during key seasonal and traffic periods. Seasonal hero items will be scaled to the market.”
As Scotch & Soda’s design team continues to fulfill the brand’s vision for unique, optimistic design, Gindi said Bluestar Alliance is strategically applying focus and considerations across categories that ensure the needs of customers and retail partners continue to offer the “unexpected expected” that the brand is known for.
“The design team has always been very inspired and the collections we have since shown at market have been met with a strong response and enthusiasm,” said Gindi.
“There is an appreciation for the thoughtfulness in Scotch & Soda designs. Around the world, retailers come to Scotch & Soda for the most eclectic pieces, and we are very pleased to see the positive response to our mainline collections, capsules and collaboration products. The consistent feedback we get has been that Scotch &
Soda is a brand they can rely on for originality and distinction across wovens, fabrications, patterns, color and thoughtful design details and accents.”