Peter Williams, founder of the iconic Jack Wills and Aubin & Wills brands, relaunches iconic Aubin brand and unveils the details of a pioneering new hybrid business model for a post-covid world.
Applying key learnings from previous tenures, Peter has announced the relaunch of British menswear brand Aubin following a nine-year hiatus. The new structure is designed to overcome challenges surrounding infrastructure, distribution and supply chains, allowing Aubin’s team the freedom to design and create, without the constraints of overseeing back-end operations.
Aubin is delighted to unveil its partnership with fashion retailer, NEXT, as its distribution partner ahead of the brand’s relaunch this Autumn, enabling Aubin to utilise the retail giant’s leading end-to-end Total Platform ecommerce fulfilment infrastructure.
As part of NEXT’s commitment to Aubin, the retailer has not only signed an Online Trading Agreement to handle customer orders, deliveries, returns processing and payments but has invested in a minority stake of 33% in the business, further proving its confidence in the brand and its ethos.
The deal will allow Aubin to benefit from NEXT’s innovative ecommerce fulfilment and digital marketing expertise via its Total Platform service. While Aubin retains creative independence of the brand and product, NEXT will provide use of its warehousing, IT, and distribution infrastructure, serving as a launchpad for the Aubin brand’s Online relaunch.
For the relaunch Peter Williams has pulled in trusted colleagues and brand guardians to rebuild Aubin for today’s market. Greg Roberts, CEO, and Rachel Silvester, Creative Director, each of whom has a vast and storied career within the industry, lead a powerful dedicated team behind the brand. The launch collection will consist of reinvented classics, designed to last wear-after-wear and never go out of style.
Peter Williams, Founder of Aubin, said: “We’re delighted to be announcing our partnership with NEXT following a nine-year hiatus of Aubin. From our past experience with the brand, we’ve learnt that our priority is to obsess 24-7 about our target customer and to produce the best possible product we can. Always working with specialist craftsmen to modernise classic wardrobe staples. NEXT is the ideal partner for us to collaborate with after the last 18 months of turbulence in the industry, as we are able to not only deliver products that are made to last – in both style and durability – but also ensure our customers benefit from a really world class delivery infrastructure.”
Simon Wolfson, NEXT Chief Executive, said: “We are delighted to be working with Peter Williams and his team to relaunch the Aubin brand. We believe the combination of Aubin’s outstanding design and brand building skills, alongside NEXT’s Total Platform end-to-end Online infrastructure, can rapidly create an iconic British brand with lasting appeal.”
Aubin will be available to purchase online via its new website which launches on 7th September to coincide with Aubin’s store opening in Carnaby’s Newburgh Quarter on 7th September 2021 // www.aubinandwills.com
