If I set you the task of walking through any high street in the UK today and finding twenty people who hadn"t heard of Ben Sherman, I"d wager you"d be crawling back to me within five minutes, white flag waving limply above your head, sobbing and begging for a task that was actually possible.
It"s one of the classic British success stories; a warming tale of how vision, drive and ambition can propel a brand to the very peaks of global fashion. From its humble beginnings in the 1950"s as a fledgling shirt manufacturer, employing naught but ten people in a small and probably grubby factory in Brighton, Ben Sherman has developed and grown to the point where, today, it has established itself as a world-class lifestyle brand.
It was 1963 when the iconic button-down collared shirt first flopped off the production lines, and the "Ben Sherman cult" was officially born. It"s fairly safe to say that the brand owes much of its success to the scooter-riding Mods, whose early adoption of the shirts helped to push the brand into the public eye and the consciousness of the fashion-loving youth of the day.
Through the 70"s, 80"s and 90"s the brand saw success spilling over into the US, Canada, Europe and Australia, and by 1996 eclectic visionary Michael Pearce had implemented the dream of turning the company into a major player in the men's footwear market.
Ben Sherman Shoes was born.
Taking on the license through his fledgling company PIL, Pearce began developing the range in Portugal and Italy, and saw immediate success back in the UK. This was due in no small part to the fact that bands like Oasis and Blur were wearing the iconic shirts once more, generating awareness for the young, fashion-conscious men through exposure in the media.
The company wanted the brand to retain a strong and unique identity, and it was vital that everyone involved understood what that vision was. Mod, Checks, Loafers, Desert Boots, Italian-inspired shoes with flair. Core principles that must be adhered to at all times. Like the celebrities and rock stars themselves, the brand would never be overly flamboyant or fancy, instead retaining that essence of British Style the company had founded nearly half a century before.
Today
Ben Sherman Shoes is under the control of the Lloyd Shoe group, and with the wealth of experience Mark Verona (former partner in Base London Shoes) and Adam Senior (who develops shoes for Top Man) bring to the table, the brand is once again blossoming into the major force that it was with Michael Pearce at the helm.
