The Brand – Scabal

From its humble beginnings as a Brussels cloth business, Scabal has established itself as one of the world’s most prestigious tailors

When Otto Hertz started selling fabrics in 1938, he probably didn’t imagine that almost 75 years later his enterprise would have grown into one of the world’s leading tailoring and textile businesses. But today Scabal fabrics and suits are worn by everyone from politicians to powerful businessmen and even Hollywood’s finest, who all appreciate its top-of-the-line fabrics, as well as ready-to-wear and made-to-measure clothing. But despite its 600-strong global workforce, fabric factory in Huddersfield, England, and flagship store on London’s world-famous Savile Row, Scabal is still a financially independent, family-owned business, preferring slow, organic growth over risky investments.

J Peter Thissen took over the company in 1970, followed by his son Gregor, who was made CEO in 2006, after law school, an MBA and a stint in finance. “It was a risky decision to enter the family business,” says Gregor Thissen. “If it works, it’s great. If it doesn’t, you’re putting the business and your family at risk. I didn’t realise at the time what a big decision it was, but it worked out well so I don’t regret it. And this really is based on an idea of partnership. My father still comes in every day and is very present. He still has a lot of contacts, and he brings a lot of experience to the table. It’s all very informal, but it works very well. He has respect for new ideas.”

This openness to new ideas is what has helped transform Scabal from a traditional fabric wholesaler to a much larger and more modern brand. “There has been a profound change in the market. In the 1960s and 1970s people dressed at the tailors. After that, the insurgence of pret-a-porter had an impact on tailoring businesses: they started to shrink dramatically,” Thissen explains. Scabal adapted to this situation by adding a second leg to its operations: the production of made-to-measure and ready-to-wear suits. In fact, 25 years ago the company pioneered the Scabal Made-to-Measure concept, which gives customers more than 5,000 fabric options as well as the opportunity to customise lining and pocket details. Today it is one of their flagship products. In 1994, it added an accessories range for the first time, in 2007, it launched a luxury magazine, Bespoken, and this year it celebrates 40 years of supplying fabrics for Hollywood blockbusters (ranging from The Godfather to Wall Street to Titanic) with a special-edition 100 percent cashmere dressing gown (handmade in Germany, cost €2,750). Evolution, says Thissen, is “an ongoing process”.

More recently, Scabal faced another challenging change in the luxury industry during the financial crisis. “2008 definitely was a turning point: the crisis changed a lot of things. The luxury sector, which was previously protected from economic cycles, was suddenly subject to immense pressure,” explains Thissen. “Today, luxury is back, but there have been profound changes in distribution and the way in which people buy.” It is not always easy to adapt to all of these changes, but Scabal succeeded in taking this challenge and making it into one of their strengths. “The trend is casualisation, yet at the same time young people are tending to dress up again. It’s very difficult to plan and foresee; you need to be flexible. That attitude suits us. Our model is based around the idea of individuality and made-to-measure. We’ve always had this one-unit centre of business. We produce single cut garments, never mass-market items.”

Aside from the expansion in terms of products, Scabal realised that in order to survive, it needed to put more energy into the creation of an image and a concept around its business. Recent years saw increasing investments in the marketing of the company, and the preparation of the next step: retail. “It’s the best way for us to position ourselves and bring our world to the customers, without depending on intermediaries. We need five or six spaces throughout the world to present our brand universe, so by the end of 2012, we’re planning to open two: one in Brussels, one in Beijing.”
The store openings fit into a grander scheme of major investments, marking a big change for the company that has never taken many risks. The company is moving its headquarters in Brussels to a new building across the street, in the interest of “getting everyone under one roof”, as Thissen puts it. “Our growth hasn’t been explosive, but continuous. That said, we’ve arrived at a different stage now,” he explains. “The coming years will be interesting, but so far we have not requested any bank financing. It is important to us to remain as financially independent as possible. Being a family business, we’re protected from expectations of crazy rates like in the private equity sector. We face different pressures and act according to different strategic views: we are thinking much more long term.”

Scabal’s Belgian roots are still treasured by its owners, but otherwise they don’t play the important role you might expect. “Scabal was never only Belgian,” says Thissen. He refers to the company’s name, which is an abbreviation of Société Commerciale Anglo, Belgo, Allemande et Luxembourgeoise. “Already in the early 1970s, the company went to the United States and the Far East. Japan has been our biggest market for many years, before the recession hit the country some twenty years ago.” As for the value of the label ‘Belgian’, Thissen is clear: “Being Belgian helps because Belgium is an export-oriented country. It’s easy to find the right people and structures. But the label has little symbolic value, which might seem strange, with the reputation of Antwerp in fashion, but that is very niche and avant-garde and doesn’t match our classic approach. We’ve always positioned ourselves as an English company. We adhere much more to a British style. We’re proud of being in Belgium, but it has never been a driver of our expansion.”

The family business traits are apparent in other ways as well. When asked what he likes about working at Scabal, Thissen replies: “The people. We are a smallish company with limited resources but international exposure. We are expected to do the same things as multinationals do with ten times the workforce. When I see the motivation of our people here, the hard work they put in, that’s what drives me.” Much of Scabal’s work force has been around for a while: some of them have been loyal to the company for more than 40 years. In order not to let this strength evolve into a weakness, Thissen is actively seeking out a new generation to join the company: “Textile isn’t the sexiest industry if you’re looking in from the outside, so we need to bring an interesting perspective: new visions and projects that will enthuse young people.” Whether Scabal will always remain a family business is still unsure. “My oldest daughter is 18, but she hasn’t shown much of an interest,” smiles Thissen. “I’m certainly not going to force it on her. The future is an unknown, but I do know we should remain independent as long as we can.”

VITAL STATISTICS

600

Employees

65

International markets

5,000

Fabrics permanently available from stock in Brussels

15

New fabric collections per season

350,000

Metres of fabric produced each year

85,000

Suits produced each year

100% EUROPEAN

• Scabal owns a weavery in Huddersfield, England, where its fabrics are produced

• The made-to-measure and ready-to-wear suits are made at Scabal’s production facility in Saarbrücken, Germany

• The headquarters are in Brussels. The offices are responsible for international trade, marketing, logistics, accounting and human resources. It is also where all incoming orders are handled and where the fabrics are stored

• Scabal has outlets at department stores KaDeWe in Berlin and Printemps in Paris, but its only flagship store is on London’s Savile Row

www.scabal.com