De La Creme

Finding a brand you can trust to offer high quality clothing at a great price is certainly a difficult task. Then try and find one which offers both of those but for more than one or two of its garments...impossible right? Not anymore, De La Creme fashions is the brand that's here to offer not just high quality garments but at such a reasonable price across their complete range. This month we sat down with the brand to learn more.

Let's begin by getting to know 'De La Creme' a little better, could you explain to those reading this who 'De La Creme' is?

De La Crème is French for ‘Of The Best’. De La Crème Fashions would simply be of the best fashion. Though our brand name is French, we are very much a British brand. We have been manufacturing, wholesaling and retailing our in-house label for over 14 years. We specialise in ladies and men's quality outerwear products. Since our brand’s inception, we have proudly remained in the UK.

What was your drive behind launching a fashion brand?

Our drive was to serve the British public (as well as international) with slow quality fashion. There are too many fast fashion brands emerging and the beauty and love for fashion is going as much as these brands are. We decided that we need to play our part and show the world that quality is made to last. Fast Fashion comes and goes. But we have been here to stay. Along with that, we wanted to show that premium British brands apart from Burberry do exist. And much like Burberry, our factory is based in London and that is where our outerwear is manufactured.

Upon deciding this, what was the first step you took to making that idea a reality?

We scouted brands similar to ours. Saw what outerwear products they made and put our own spin to it after taking inspiration. Though some of our products are inspired by other brands, all our designs are original and not copied. I think that is what sets us apart also.

You get to boast the point that all of your clothing is 'Made in the UK', how important do you think this is? What does this point add to your brand, what does it tell your customers?

Being one of the very few brands left in the UK who actually still mass manufacture in the UK does have a great importance to our brand as well as customers. The point that it adds is that British quality still exists without the Burberry price tags. What it tells our customers is that after they buy from us, they can’t believe they purchased premium British outerwear without the luxury price. Not a lot of brands manufacture in UK or Europe anymore due to rising prices. However, despite the cost challenges we have faced, we have still stayed true to our roots. I think that has been reflected by our customers’ loyalty and popularity when it comes to shopping online for coats.

Let's talk about the designs, where do you get inspiration from when it comes to designing new garments. When choosing what to stock that will be popular for your customers?

As mentioned before, we see what outerwear products are trending and put our own spin to it after taking inspiration. Though some of our products are inspired by other brands, all our designs are original and not copied. I think that is what sets us apart also. When choosing what to stock, we launch preorder products and test the market. Whatever products show high demand we start manufacturing them in our stock.

De La Creme coats are popular throughout the world, when launching your brand was this an aim or was this something that just happened, to which you've turned to focus on?

Thanks for the compliments. You’re too kind. We are overwhelmed by the global popularity of our coats. Initially when we launched our brand, it was mainly focused on the UK market. However, after launching with Amazon and being enrolled in their global marketplace, we saw the demand for premium British outerwear from around the world. We have had orders come from Pakistan, India, to all the way in Argentina. You would never imagine that someone from far away would want to purchase from your not so well known brand when we were in our early years.

In just three words, How would you describe De La Creme?

Premium British Outerwear

How does the next 5 years look for De La Creme?

In the next 5 years we would love to see our brand stocked in major retailers offline as well as online. We would also like to get some awards and accolades behind our belt. Last year we were only nominated for Fashion brand of the year by yourselves. Hopefully this year we actually bag the award (fingers crossed) with more nominations and more community work we are doing to be recognised as more than a fashion brand.

We have just gone through one of the hardest times of our generation, COVID-19 Pandemic. How did you guide De La Creme through this time?

It was a difficult 2 years for us. 2020 we were hit with COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in the UK. As a caring brand, we urged all of our staff to stay at home and stay safe until instructed otherwise by the UK government. Once lockdown restrictions eased, we still enforced strict safety measures at work. And only myself and another key worker in our factory travelled to work, just to fulfil online orders. When 2021 lockdown began in the UK, we restarted our safety measures in line with the rules laid out by the government, and this time only allowed a few vaccinated staff to come and work in the factory until things eased. Fast forward now to 2022, almost every one of our staff are vaccinated and proper safety measures are now in place to prevent staff from catching COVID-19 at work.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to launch a fashion brand, or any other business, that you wish you had heard when you were starting out?

Don’t follow every trend. Don’t think short term, think long term. The idea that you have to start a business, think about if it will be here today and gone tomorrow? Or will you rise above the fast fashion trend and make unique designs that are made to last and be remembered for longer than you will be around? Make sure you have a team of successful and productive people around you to help you make your idea alive. You are only as good as your team. And teamwork makes the dreamwork.

Can you tell us about any upcoming collections you are releasing?

We have just released our SS22 collection, and in line with that, we are looking to release our AW22 collection for the autumn/winter season. This is our busiest season of year, since outerwear is popular in the colder months. Along with the new collection, we will be looking to restock and remanufacture some popular classics. Stay tuned!

Thank you for your time.

Thanks again for having me. The pleasure is all mine.

You can shop the full collection from De La Creme now over at their official online store delacremefashions.com