While upping the ante on merchandising, the brand still wants to maintain its big hitters. Historically, trousers have accounted for 40% of brand revenue, so the goal is to ensure ample style options and continued fabric development. “In menswear, for the last two seasons, our best-selling pant is the Line pant, and the reason goes back to what I’ve been telling you: it’s tropical wool, which means it breathes in the summer and it’s warm in the winter,” says Suddards. “So our customers know that, and they buy a pant for all year round.” To this point, Wakeman pinpoints some longstanding bestsellers, some of which are 16 years old, or 10, in the case of menswear: The Dordoni pant, priced at £325 ($430), and its men’s counterpart, the Sorte pant at £375 ($496). “They are still exactly the same, they’re still in the same fabric, and they’re never out of stock for our wholesale customers or our retail.”
“The thing for Studio Nicholson was that it was always seen as a pants brand, where you bought your staple pieces,” explains Suddards. “The driver and strategy of the last three years has been, ‘How do we become a lifestyle brand?’” As such, the runway brings this mix of accessories, ready-to-wear, and footwear to life. “These are products that really sell, products that you won’t just see on the catwalk; you’ll see them in a store,” says Wakeman. “And I think that might be the difference between other people and us.”
Within this shift, the brand has been astutely securing collaborations to widen the scope of its market. The Asics collaboration, which launched earlier this month, sold out in a day in Korea. “We’ve been doing these things because we are growing our shoe business,” says Suddards. “We want to bring in a new customer specifically for that.” Suddards also cites the Perfumer H fragrance collab launched in February this year — a savvy move that capitalized on the shared customer base of Studio Nicholson and the fragrance house.
East to West
That customer in question has regional nuance, a factor that has become increasingly clear with international expansion. In 2022, Studio Nicholson opened its first store in Apgujeong-dong, a wealthy fashion district in Seoul. Now, there are four single-brand stores across Seoul. “Korea is very much a women’s market for sure — like 60-40,” says Suddards, comparing it to London, which has a more even split. “In Japan, it’s very much a menswear market, so it’s about 70-30.” Wakeman concurs: “Yeah, the men shop more than the women over there. And then, I think EMEA is 50-50.”
When Suddards joined the business, Studio Nicholson ramped up its expansion in China, focusing heavily on womenswear. The company launched its online presence with Tmall in 2024, joining the platform’s ‘Luxury Pavilion’ section alongside Toteme, Lemaire, and Bottega Veneta. He says it’s growing in double digits. “We own the [Studio Nicholson] business directly [in China] with a retail partner, which most brands don’t do,” he adds, noting that this was how he approached Ganni’s China presence, too. Studio Nicholson works with an undisclosed retail partner to provide back-end support.
