LONDON — E-commerce veteran Martin Bartle is pressing his 25 years of experience in online fashion retail and British brands into action, unveiling a men’s apparel line with a discreet, avant-garde edge.
Bartle, who for years worked behind the scenes at sites including Net-a-porter, Matchesfashion and Farfetch and who consulted for brands including Paul Smith and Margaret Howell, is launching Quiet Man, a collection of timeless tailored clothing suited for men in the creative industries, just like him.
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The collection, which is manufactured entirely in London with fabrics from Italian, Spanish and Portuguese mills, has military flair, but there’s nothing severe, or sharp-edged, about it. Instead, it’s soft and roomy, with generous cuts and lots of drape.
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Patch pockets adorn the front of an oversize white shirt, while wide-leg trousers have cummerbund-style Gurkha waistbands that fasten with buttons.
A sweeping, frock-style coat has a certain “Wuthering Heights” charm, while its oversize silhouette and dark folds draw on Japanese menswear, with extremes in cut and drape.
These clothes are fit for artists, architects, curators and literary types looking for everyday pieces that make a statement, but are still comfortable enough for a day hanging paintings ahead of a vernissage, or addressing bookish types at the Cheltenham Literary Festival.
Prices are in the contemporary arena, with jackets ranging from 500 pounds to 600 pounds, and coats between 800 pounds and 1,000 pounds.
In an interview, Bartle described Quiet Man as the “culmination” of his career and said the approach is very personal.
“I have always been the person behind the scenes, at smaller brands or multibrand retailers, and I always had the sense there was something slightly missing from the market. And I wanted something that fitted well with my own personal kind of creative and fashion needs,” he said.
Bartle added that he wanted to create a collection that was easy and not beholden to seasonal trends. Most of all, he wanted it to be understated and enduring.
“In this fairly brash, influencer-led world, I’m trying to create a little space for those of us who prefer something a little more timeless and a bit quieter,” Bartle said.
The collections, the first of which launches this month, will be in-season, with the brand planning to drop capsules every two to three months. The debut collection has 12 pieces and Bartle said he hopes women will wear the clothing, too.
The drop will be followed by a smaller collection of simple items such as sweats, T-shirts and tie-waist trousers.
Quiet Man has a sustainable, no-waste approach and — like its competitors — a desire to engage with its community.
The business is vertical and has no offices or studio. Bartle has been working virtually with his design and production teams and manufacturing the collection at North London factories. He said he’s been “humbled” by the level of craft and expertise that’s available today in the U.K.
The brand will start by selling direct-to-consumer, with physical pop-up shops planned. Bartle plans to market the label in a suitably quiet way with a series of events, such as dinners with like-minded people.
He said every event will have the idea of quiet as its theme and explore how people can achieve a sense of peace in their daily lives.
The brand is working on a number of fronts. There will be a bespoke offer, where people can give Quiet Man a beloved piece of clothing or an image of something they love and the brand will recreate it. It plans to work with the same bespoke tailors who cut and sew for the Savile Row houses.
“The whole brand is about emotional connections and trying to resonate with people on that level. That’s why I’m approaching the marketing from a broader perspective of music, arts, fiction, and aesthetics. I really want Quiet Man to be something that people incorporate into their lives,” he said.
In that vein, Quiet Man plans to take back and resell the brand’s items if customers don’t wear them anymore or want to replace them with a newer style.
In addition, Bartle is setting up a Quiet Man resale platform. Customers will be able to purchase and sell designer clothing with a similar aesthetic and quality to Quiet Man.
Bartle said that while he’s starting off by producing small volumes, wholesale could be part of the plan as the business expands. Physical pop-ups are planned, but the focus is on digital retail for now.
An ecommerce veteran, Bartle was analyzing numbers, conversion rates and basket sizes in the very early days of Net-a-porter and other online retailers.
Most recently, he was chief operations officer at the London showroom Rainbowwave, and played a pivotal role in that company’s digital transition once COVID-19 hit and physical showrooms were forced to shut their doors.
Bartle said the digital retail channel is finally having its moment and that people no longer need to experience a brand in the physical space before they buy it.
“I think the pandemic really just made it happen, particularly social commerce. How many people prior to the pandemic only encountered a brand on social media and bought from them? I think that number was pretty small,” Bartle said.
“I think now people are willing to try new brands, even if they have only ever encountered their digital presence. And that is a big, big shift,” he said.