Step into the World of Wellwear
David Gandy Wellwear is not your run-of-the-mill activewear or loungewear brand. It is something else entirely; a new category that balances style with well-being for a life lived well. In this interview, RLI spends some time with David Gandy, Founder & Creative Director and Charlie Tee, Managing Director as we learn all about Wellwear which is designed to make customers feel good both physically and emotionally.
Turning the vision of the David Gandy Wellwear brand into a reality is something that has been on the cards for over a decade. Utilising more than twenty years of industry experience and eight years of brand collaborations, David, together with his close friend Charlie, through the lifestyle change the pandemic enforced, used their time and collective skill set to bring the concept to life.
“This brand is a new clothing category combining style and well-being – two of my great passions,” explains David Gandy, Founder & Creative Director. “In a world where we are increasingly educated in self-care, Wellwear is bringing the clothing industry up to speed. We created collections of pieces designed to support living well in the world and this is what sets the brand apart.”
Launched as a direct-to-consumer (D2C) business in late 2021, by the brand’s first anniversary in November 2022, they had unveiled their first physical retail sites in Selfridges across their London, Birmingham and Manchester sites, as well their own digital platform.
“Investment in brick-and-mortar experiences is something that remains integral to our expansion strategy,” Charlie Tee, Managing Director, highlights. “In the next year we would like to see Wellwear’s first stand-alone retail space and a wholesale expansion into key international markets.”
A British brand for a global consumer, David and Charlie are aware of the need to grow outside of the UK. Currently 11 per cent of sales are coming from the US and this is a number they are looking to grow in H2 and 2024. In recent months the business has gained a lot of traction in the UAE, particularly since the two men spent a week there competing in the 1000 Miglia UAE Experience for which David Gandy Wellwear was the Official Clothing Partner. They are also currently in conversations about exciting hotel partnerships that will assist in expanding their European presence.
With every new product launch, the company continues to push the boundaries on product development to bring their customers the most innovative designs, fabrics and treatments. David explains that they have a very experienced design and production team who source from the most forward-thinking European mills and factories.
When discussing brand experience and customer loyalty, Charlie says that firstly, they are strong believers that customer service is everything and they ensure customers are openly communicated with. For example, he says that on the rare occasions something may awry with a delivery, they make it right immediately, with David jumping in on messages personally so that customers are looked after and know they are valued.
While the brand may have benefitted at launch from David’s personal social platform, which provided an initial foundation of followers and interest, two years on Charlie highlights that the majority of their growth is organic which is very encouraging for the future.
“Being a D2C brand when we launched, Instagram was very much our ‘shopfront’ so we have always ensured we have a clear identity and tone of voice which carries through to our paid media strategy. More recently, we have been looking to focus on the less-curated platform TikTok, to see who from our audience will be there and also the new Lemon8 concept.”
Speaking about the importance of sustainability in the modern world, David says that for him, sustainability is all about longevity and it was something that was taught to him by his grandfather, to buy once and to buy well.
“With Wellwear, not only have we produced great quality garments that will last a lifetime and do not follow trends, we have also worked with the most sustainable factories in Portugal using BCI cotton and developed ways in which we can help the wearer physically to ensure that their garments have longevity. I do recognise that we have work to do in this area, as do most other brands. However, what we have always been and will continue to be is responsible as well as sustainable.”
Rather than replicate David’s hugely successful loungewear collaboration with British high street stalwart M&S, the brand instead moves the narrative forward. This has led to the creation of a whole new category where clothing meets well-being and it is this pushing of the boundaries and refusing to accept the status quo that sets the company apart from other apparel companies.
“At Wellwear we are dedicated to making you feel good both physically and emotionally. Throughout my career I have actively campaigned for mental and physical health, long before they captured the zeitgeist of recent years. I firmly believe clothing should make you feel good as well as look good,” David explains as our time begins to run out with the duo.
“We have proof that the demand for the brand and product is there so the greatest challenge we have is scaling quickly and generating wider awareness, both of which require investment so that is a constant conversation – finding the right partners that believe in our brand and want to invest to build it in the same way that we do. We will continue to look to new markets, especially while the outlook in the UK remains unsettled and we are looking forward to growing our customer base around the world,” Charlie concludes.
