'How I started British luxury shoe firm Duke&Dexter'

'How I started British luxury shoe firm Duke&Dexter'

University education is all well and good but it's not the sole route to business success. 

Skipping higher education and forgoing a degree doesn't have to zap your prospects. In fact, there are a number of youngsters who are thriving.

Archie Hewlett., who founded premium footwear business Duke + Dexter at the tender age of 18, is one of them. Now, at the age of 22, he sells his luxury British-made shoes around the world - and they've won celebrity fans, from Tinie Tempah, to Snoop Dogg and Eddie Redmayne.

Duke + Dexter is the brainchild of Archie Hewlett. who started the venture at the age of 18 with no prior experience in the fashion or design industry

But Hewlett. says he almost went to university just because he thought he should, rather than striking out as an entrepreneur straight from school.

'I never had an interest in going to university,' says Hewlett.. 'At school I worked hard with a view of going to university and got the grades but it was more of a tick box exercise to make sure that I had the same opportunities as my friends when it came to education.

'It's only when I got the grades and was on the verge of going I realised that deep down, this was not something I wanted to do.'

The fresh-faced entrepreneur built his business, specialising in men's footwear, from humble beginnings as an online firm whi ch he ran by himself in his family home in Oxfordshire.

Three years on, the venture has burgeoned in and become a business that employs 15 people and boasts a flagship independent store in Covent Garden, London.

Hewlett says the company now operates on a 'seven figure basis', and is set to turnover more than £2.5million this year.

Eddie Redmayne wore a pair of D+D shoes when he won an Oscar in 2015

Duke + Dexter has been particularly popular with celebrities, with Ryan Reynolds, Tinie Tempah, and Poppy Delevingne all caught on camera sporting a pair. 

Most notably, Eddie Redmayne wore the shoes when he won an Oscar in 2015 for his portrayal of Professor Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything.

'I was frustrated because he was on the front cover of a lot of newspapers and magazines and so were our shoes but nobody knew the brand. He also wore a plain black pair so there were no distinctive features,' Hewlett says.

'In saying that, it was an incredible experience for us. Celebrities who attend events of that magnitude have access to a lot of merchandise from the fashion industry because all the biggest fashion labels want to get their p roducts on the red carpet for the world to see.

'The media does its job by providing a breakdown of who wore what. It gave us a huge amount of credibility. To have a small brand exposed like that was mega - especially as I have no background in fashion or design.'

Hewlett said he identified a gap in the market for a contemporary loafer cross slipper shoe after attending a number of black tie affairs in his role as a recruiter 

Now Snoop Dogg wants a piece of the action too. 

The US rap star, who is already a Duke + Dexter customer, is in talks with the company with a view to producing collaborative designs.

'We already had Snoop featuring us on social media,' says Hewlett. 

'He has already got a few pairs of our shoes. The biggest lure of collaboration for celebrities of that calibre is it enables them to further expand their global profile. For us, we are a huge fan of Snoop Dogg himself but it is also about the platforms he can expose us to.'

A start-up with humble beginnings

US rapper Snoop Dogg is in talks with Hewlett with a view to releasing collaborative designs

Hewlett's entrepreneurial spirit was somewhat unwittingly stoked by his decision to spurn a place at Durham University, but instead of starting his own business straight away, he went into the recruitment industry.

In that role, Hewlett attended a number of swanky black tie events where he become convinced that there was a gap in a market for a velvet slipper cross loafer shoe with a more contemporary design.

He had a bespoke pair made instead which drew a lot of interest and prompted questions on where he got the pair.  

Now the shoes are sold in more than 100 countries worldwide - with the US, the brand's biggest market - and are stocked in department stores Harvey Nichols, Liberty and Fenwick.

At present, a pair of D + D loafers will set you back between £150 and £750 online or at the London store.

But Hewlett aims to expand his distribution network and has held talks with high-end retailers including Harrods, which is headed up by his mentor Michael Ward, to this end.

The prospect of facing some of the nation's most astute business people in a Dragons' Den-style product pitching process is not for the faint-hearted - especially at the age of 22.

Hewlett says: ' I was 19 at the time of my first pitch. I didn't find it daunting - mainly because I was speaking about my own product. 

'The brand had been running for a year at the time so I knew as much as I felt I needed to know about the product - things like our brand positioning and our client base.

'When I was emailing people about the brand at the early stages of the business, I never got to the stage where they replied to my emails so I didn't get humiliated or embarrassed because they shut me down at the first hurdle.

'I never gone to a meeting feeling belittled by my age. Some people have been very condescending but I do not think that was an age factor. I think it was more to do with the fact that I was running a young business.'

Great British business: Duke + Dexter shoes were originally developed in Italy but they are made in a manufacturing plant based in Sheffield.

Raising start-up cash was a patient process. Hewlett shunned the traditional funding avenues to fund his venture by a scrimp and save method commonly referred to as bootstrapping. 

He was also able to make a withdrawal 'in the thousands' from the ever helpful Bank of Mum and Dad.

Hewlett then took the plunge and kickstarted his venture by placing an order for 300 pairs of shoes from a manufacturing firm based in Italy.

We have always been a very British brand and we wanted to tap into that idea of quality which is a sentiment associated with British produce 

He subsequently took the decision to move production to Sheffield after being won over by the idea of running a truly British enterprise.

'We have always been a very British brand and we wanted to tap into that idea of quality which is a sentiment associated with British produce,' Hewlett says.

'Also I wanted to be able to visit the factory all the time which is helpful from a management point of view.'

Funnily enough, the first online order was from the United Arab Emirates. That was a mind-blowing moment because I assumed that everything would be UK focused. It was a wake up call. Even now the UK is not our biggest market, the US is.' 

Duke + Dexter's website describes the Night Sky loafer as 'worn to be noticed'

For those who prefer their fancy shoes a little more low key, Duke + Dexter also sell plain ones

Using social media to spread the word 

At its infancy, cash was a scarce and precious resource for Duke + Dexter meaning Hewlett needed to find a cost effective way of marketing his brand: enter social media.

Hewlett utilises social media platform Instagram to promote his brand

The platform allows businesses to directly engage online with their target market regardless of where they are based geographically.

'I am a huge fan of using social media for marketing,' says Hewlett. 'It does not work for all businesses. I think if your business offers services then I think it would be difficult to promote your brand through social media.

'Platforms like Instagram are visually orientated and that works well if you are selling a product because you can visually show the product.

'We utilise Instagram especially. From my understanding there is nothing a company can buy to have a competitive edge on Instagram. 

'So whether you are Gucci, Chanel or Jimmy Choo you cannot buy exposure through Inst agram that sets you apart from smaller brands. It's a total level playing field. That allows you to rely on the quality of your own products.'

I've paid my parents back... and now they make me pay 

When it comes to raising capital for the future, Hewlett is targeting organic growth and is reinvesting profits back into the business to maintain autonomy.

'I've been lucky because my parents have been incredibly supportive from the beginning.' Hewlett says, when asked if he'd ever raise funds through a crowdfunder.

'I've paid them back now. But whenever we go out for dinner they make sure that I'm the one that pays for the bill!'

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