A TALK WITH

Finn Lewis - Founder & Creative Director
FLORENCE BLACK

Finn, it’s been a while since we last spoke, how’s the brand progressed since then?
I know I know far too long Jack! Honestly, the brand has come on leaps and bounds, much quicker and bigger than I could have even anticipated, to the point it’s becoming so unmanageable and we’ve had to quickly expand our team to adapt. I’m so happy the brand has finally got to the level and point it has, and it’s only going to get better!

Obviously, you’ve really stepped up in terms of the brand appearance, with the latest lookbooks and photography - have you seen this make a massive difference?

Really appreciate this from one creative to another. I think having a bigger team allows me more time and allows more creative collaboration to just create better campaigns and better garments. Internal feedback from my team helps me organise some of the chaos in my head when it comes to collection & brand development.

I feel like I’m finally able to start pushing the brand in its intended direction, & what we have planned for the upcoming seasons is incredible. I must say, I’m super excited to see our growth in the next year or two.

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. Last time, we spoke about you being fortunate enough to market to a niche - since then, has your product offering widened or do you feel you’re still catering to that niche?
There has to be two sides to the business for me.
The creative side which allows me creative freedom to make truly niche garments that I love, and that build the collections, especially in terms of styling options, but may not be as successful commercially because of how niche those pieces are.
That’s why we have introduced the essentials line, this allows people to be a part of the brand that may not feel they necessarily could wear some of the more niche items (of which I of course disagree, I believe our pieces are wearable by all), but still appreciate the style & aesthetic, which I think translates nicely into our essentials line.
I’ve spent considerable time as of late, especially due to COVID, to get the basic lines right, as these have certainly become a staple in a much larger audience's wardrobe.
As you will know, there’s always a fine line to achieving balance. The never-ending struggle for all creatives.

Talk us through the inspiration behind this latest collection?

We’ve been patiently waiting, slowly grinding to get the brands aesthetic, vision & quality to a level where I feel like it’s ready for a bigger audience. I finally feel we’re there.

That’s why this campaign is all about ‘name’. It’s about putting our name up there with the rest, and creating a brand that other people can be proud of wearing, make them proud of their own name and what it stands for, as I am proud of Florence Black.

For this campaign, we’ve challenged multiple brands/companies that we aspire to, look to compete with, want to collaborate with, & even look to surpass. A manifestation almost. Some of the brands have taken this in the light that it was meant.

Some brands not so much haha.

Maybe they fear the competition? But the competition is healthy, it pushes us creatives to do better, collection after collection. The idea IS to be swimming with the sharks, we no longer want to be a small fish in a small pond.

Can you tell us your favourite pieces from this one?

It has to be our knits, something we have become synonymous with here at Florence Black. I actually believe that’s how we first met right?

Especially the lengthy sampling of the reverse logo knits, and the reception they have had since release (selling out) makes the time and effort poured into that piece worth it.

On the outside people may not see the work that goes into a garment, but as you know, especially when you focus on minimal designs/silhouettes, it’s ALWAYS in the detail. The details take the most time.

Any nightmares, learnings, or hold-ups you’d had in production?

Certainly the knock-on effect of COVID. I don’t think we properly anticipated how much this would impact lead times & production costs. I still can’t believe we are experiencing such an aftershock now, when arguably this is a thing of the past now.

But we were warned, and maybe I was too ignorant to listen, but it’s certainly made me reevaluate certain timelines for future collections. I can’t keep the community waiting like we did with this drop, so I’m forever grateful for the patience everyone has had.

What’s next for Florence Black in the run-up to Christmas?

Sneak peeks eh? So, certainly penned in we have another pop-up coming in December, which will be between 2-4th December, White City Soho Works again. It was a booked-out event last time so we may extend this and also pen in an open day as this was appointment only last time.

We have the second drop of our AW22 coming up at the end of October too.
We do have some other announcements but I feel like until they are fully solidified I don’t want to put them out into the world, as it has a tendency to mess up the juju.

You can shop Florence Black here.

Tete-a-tete with Florence Black