Favourbrook: Gorgeous Clothes to Dress Up In and Elevate Your Mood
By
10 months ago
Exquisite occasionwear to look the part
Favourbrook is an entry in our Great British Brands 2024 book.
Favourbrook: Great British Brands 2024
‘When anyone asks how business was in 2023, the simple answer is that everyone is dressing up again. No matter what’s going on in people’s lives, human beings just love getting dressed up. Classic sartorial style brings people together. It creates a collective buzz. It’s strange, but the most excited room you’ll ever be in will contain 200 people all dressed in black tie!
There’s a real appetite for getting away from beige. People want to have fun and my clothes elevate people out of the mundane and put a smile on their faces. Women display their character via clothes and our absolutely beautiful fabrics make them feel great.
With men it’s all about the details. We shot our latest campaign in Rome with a model who looked like Bryan Ferry crossed with American Gigolo, dressed in a velvet jacket, bowtie and a denim shirt and jeans – classic convention with a twist, which is what we’re about.
We have 1,700 men’s waistcoats and I love it when foreigners come in and say, “OMG, I didn’t even know something like this existed.” We also have close to a 1,000 bow ties in store and sold over 2,000 last year. There’s a lot of kit to choose from, which is why great service is so essential and ours stands apart from everyone else’s.
When it comes to AI, I’m not sure I even know what it is, nor do I care. What I care about is Favourbrook, which is a 15-person micro business. It’s the first business I started and it’s been a non-stop love affair. We stay small to be the best shopkeepers in a lovely environment.
Our customer could be 21 or 81 because our clothes are ageless, beautiful and fun, and put a smile on everyone’s face. They’re all about elevation.’
Oli Spencer, founder and CEO
Five Proudest Moments
1. Opening our first dedicated retail space in London’s Piccadilly Arcade in 1990, specialising in silk waistcoats and formalwear accessories.
2. When Four Weddings and a Funeral featured one of our hand-painted waistcoats in 1994. Our styles subsequently soared, galvanising the business.
3. Launching our first women’s collection in 1994, focusing on silk and velvet coats, jackets and dresses.
4. With a fast-growing client base, opening a new flagship store in 2017, pride of place on London’s Pall Mall.
5. Becoming an Official Licensee for Menswear for Royal Ascot in 2020 and producing an inaugural Royal Ascot collection to mark the partnership.
What I’ve Learnt
- Being a good shopkeeper is the most important thing.
- Quality is what I spend my life trying to achieve in every aspect of my life and work.
- You catch more bees with honey than with a stick.
FAVOURBROOK
16 & 17 Pall Mall, London SW1Y 5LU
+44 (0)20 7493 5060
