This story is about the yellow cloak. Or about how a person who did not have enough warmth and sun decided to create them himself. People liked his idea, and the brand has already gained popularity far beyond Russia.
St. Petersburg brand SHU: how it all began
Andrey Kravtsov - a young designer originally from Severouralsk (Ekaterinburg region). Now its production in St. Petersburg is gaining momentum. And it all started with a gloomy rainy morning and a great desire to create.
Andrey came to the fashion scene from... the automotive industry. A young man with great ambitions to become a rock singer moved to St. Petersburg. But, as often happens in life, things didn’t work out with music.
He got a job at a factory as a modest car assembler. And he had an immodest dream - create what friends and acquaintances in St. Petersburg lacked: comfortable and inexpensive waterproof clothing.
How many jackets, down jackets and other things necessary for life were embroidered and sewn back in the evenings, the designer himself probably won’t remember! It’s impossible to count how many patterns and cheat sheets were created regarding the correspondence of sizes, volumes, quantity and quality of materials.
There was a lot of everything: aspiration, support, ideas, but there was just a catastrophic lack of time. A his first customers were his colleagues in the automotive industry.
One day our hero went on vacation. Just for a week. What do ordinary people do on vacation? That's right - they take a break from the labors of the righteous. Andrei did his best this week and earned as much as a month in production brought him (financial issues were important for the young man).
It became clear that it was time to get back on my feet and start my own business. This first money was invested in materials and tools.
Reference. The SHU brand really started with a bright yellow raincoat that was sold on April 1, 2012.
SHU products: what, where and how the brand produces
A few years ago, one could limit ourselves to the words: outerwear for the autumn-winter season for chilled St. Petersburg residents. Today it’s worth talking about this in more detail.
What became the brand's products
The brand really started with raincoats, raincoats, hooded raincoats, parkas.
Even at the very beginning, Andrei Kravtsov sincerely gave his products to musicians whose work was close to him. The idols liked the raincoats, word of mouth worked: they began to recommend it to their friends.
The store’s assortment has expanded to include accessories: caps, bags, backpacks have been added. In addition, when purchasing an item, the client receives a detailed description and case for transportation and storage.
Important. The cost of things with the SHU brand is pleasantly different from the prices of similar products from global manufacturers.
And the guys also value their reputation. When the fabric of the hoods in one of the batches of clothing began to fray, all items were immediately replaced.
Where and how products are produced
The creators of simple, comfortable and technological clothing for every day follow new developments and use what corresponds to the company's philosophy.
Reference. The company does not use materials of animal origin in the sewing process. For production, only advanced artificial materials are purchased: membrane fabrics, synthetic insulation.
Why such a reasonable price tag? It's simple: To reduce the cost of production, Andrey turned to the capabilities of Chinese factories. Yes, he has to live in China for a long time, but it’s worth it. Costs are reduced and the number of completed orders increases.
In Russia, a designer is ready to collaborate with those who are close in spirit and ready to produce something in common. Examples of such cooperation are a clothing collection released with the “Power of the Wind” yacht club and a beer company from St. Petersburg.
Success story: how SHU became known around the world
At first, SHU goods were sold in St. Petersburg, then buyers appeared in other large cities - Moscow and Yekaterinburg. Now there, as in St. Petersburg, branded flagship stores have opened.
In January 2019, the SHU brand began to conquer the Eastern and European markets.
Reference. Kravtsov’s team showed the product at four exhibitions in Europe, where brands from all over the world were presented. The most effective site for the guys turned out to be the very first of them - Pitti Uomo.
The result of the foreign tours of the first season was an updated logo, a changed corporate style, and a more original presentation of models.The children learn to choose distributors and work with them, establish business and friendly connections, enter into contracts, and plan the direction of collections for future years. And in the near future - supply of clothing to Scandinavia, Korea and Japan.
Today SHU is a serious business that brings tangible profits. This means that many important decisions still need to be made. I would like to believe that the person who brought a piece of sunshine into the gloomy St. Petersburg weather is capable of solving more complex issues.
0
