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Peter Millar Founder Says Men’s Retail is Hot By Jennifer Oladipo senior business writer joladipo@communityjournals.com
really is how it works. I knew his father going way back. There are all these relationships.
A North Carolina menswear brand can hardly do better than being bought by Richemont, the global conglomerate that’s home to luxury brands like Cartier jewelry and Chloé couture. Just ask Chris Knott, founder and creative director of Peter Millar. Richemont bought his company one year ago. That kind of clout benefits retailers like Greenville’s Rush Wilson Limited, which, after carrying the brand since Peter Millar was founded in 2001, has been designated one of only 10 Peter Millar “Crown Shops” in the country. Before crowds came in for a Peter Millar trunk show and grand opening at Rush Wilson last week, Knott sat down with UBJ to discuss the relationships that are part of taking a brand to its next level at every stage of the game.
How do retailers make the brand their own? The line is really broad, but our DNA is the same. If you walked in a store in Chicago, it may not look like how Rush has bought it, but it’s not like you’re going to see a bunch of stuff that’s made just for Chicago. Each retailer has his own handwriting, and people gravitate towards that. I’d say Rush’s is kind of classic, updated traditional, a little more English, but he pushes them just to edge of their comfort zone. You’ve got to push men sometimes. With our brand we have to take a pattern and tweak it enough so it feels fresh enough to sell but we don’t get too far out of anybody’s comfort zone to where it freaks them out.
So how does a retailer get to become a Crown Shop?
How does the relationship between Peter Millar and local retailers work? The whole Peter Millar business started on the backs of the Rush Wilsons of the world. I probably showed him a little sweater card at a regional trade show and he said, “Hey we’ve known this guy a long time, I’ll take a dozen sweaters.” That
Chris Knott, founder of Peter Millar, in the Rush Wilson Limited store in Greenville.
12 Upstate business journal November 1, 2013
First, we want to make sure we know the retailer well enough because you’re really joining a business; there are some investments from both parties. Also, we don’t want one on every corner. We want to be able to take people in a 100 to 200 mile radius to this shop. To really tell your brand’s message, you’ve got to have a >>