Founder and Chairman Iain Burton established Aspinal of London in 2001 with a vision to create an elegant heritage brand using the best of British craftsmanship, luxury materials, bold use of colour and contemporary design. Here, we meet with Iain to discuss how he achieved this goal, how the company continues to be loved by customers all around the world and what the next steps are for the business.
Aspinal of London defines timeless and refined English elegance through their collections of exquisitely crafted leather goods of the finest quality. This is at the heart of the brand and all that it stands for.
An old English name, Aspinal originates from the ancient term ‘Aspen-well; meaning a copse of Aspen trees near a water well. Iain named the company Aspinal of London as this represents nature and strength, as depicted in their heraldic-inspired logo.
The company itself has always represented family values and has created a strong sense of community amongst its team, its customers and the welcome they receive whenever they visit one of their stores.
Aspinal’s portfolio of stores spans the UK as well as international locations, including some of the most prestigious locations in London. Two of their standalone stores are at Regent St and Royal Exchange, each serving quite different clientele.
“At our flagship store on Regent St, there is naturally a lot of footfall from tourism and we stock a wide range of our collection for customers looking for accessories for themselves or a gift for friends and family,” highlights Iain Burton, Founder and Chairman of Aspinal of London.
“Conversely, at our Royal Exchange location, the product selection is more focussed. This includes office bags, stationary and the kind of gifts you might give at a leaving-do, for example. The key is always to create beautiful, sophisticated environments, both through store design and hiring the best retail staff, to allow customers to have the best, most convenient experience.”
At Aspinal they focus on creating a memorable retail experience through traditional customer service, personalisation and spectacular retail theatre. As one of the few remaining English family-owned handbag and lifestyle brands, Burton cares very much about the experience of every customer and can often be found in store on the shop floor serving champagne and having in depth ‘getting to know you chats’ with customers from all over the world.
“With our countryside home in the heart of the beautiful South Downs National Park, love and respect for the natural world has always been at the heart of what we do.”
Their collections have been inspired from a host of sources over the years and they have had lots of different inspirations with each of their collections. Sometimes these have been places, such as their countryside home in the South Downs National Park, or other iconic locations worldwide like the Hamptons and most recently Lake Como. On other occasions the inspirations have been the arts, with collections inspired by the legendary photographer Slim Aarons, or one of the Chairman’s all-time favourite films, the 1964 French romantic film The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.
Burton feels that there is no end of amazing, wonderful and inspirational ideas and from these they build and create colour palettes, silhouettes and stories in combination with knowing what it is their customer will love.
“With our countryside home in the heart of the beautiful South Downs National Park, love and respect for the natural world has always been at the heart of what we do,” Burton comments as the topic of conversation moves onto sustainability.
“Across more than two decades of product creation, the Earth’s wonder has been a consistent source of inspiration, from the name of our brand to the English countryside birds and animals in our plaster cornice motifs and imagery seen throughout the DNA of our brand and designs.”
The business is proud to create timeless, long-lasting and responsible luxury. They are equally proud of their commitment to act consciously as a business to lessen their environmental impact and create positive change in the world we live in.
Known for being the number one brand for quality, their goods are designed for longevity and created with the view that they will be passed down through generations. Supreme artisanship is at the heart of achieving this standard of quality and one of Aspinal’s defining brand values. All their products are handmade by skilled artisans in some of the finest workshops in the world and their commitment to exquisite luxury is unwavering. It is the combination of these qualities that has helped Aspinal of London stand out from other concepts in its sector and enjoy high levels of success over its 24-year history.
“Personalised gifts also sit at the very heart of our story. We offer an embossing and engraving service on the majority of our leather accessories and sterling silver gifts. In addition, Aspinal Luxury Gift Wrap is simply exquisite. It begins with a nest of tissue paper on the bottom of each box and then each product is wrapped in signature white paper and sealed with an Aspinal gold foil shield label. Each gift box is then tied with Aspinal signature navy blue grosgrain ribbon for a finishing touch. The gift boxes are beautifully made and made for a wonderful keepsake,” Burton explains.
As our time with Iain draws to a close, he highlights that as the company continues to grow and expand, both in the UK and internationally, it remains pivotal that their team understands exactly who Aspinal are, what they stand for and what they are trying to achieve.
“Aspinal customers can continue to expect the highest quality materials, artisan craftsmanship and timeless style, delivering fair, honest old fashioned brand values to the modern luxury market.”
