LONDON — Mark Frost was promoted to the role of design director at Gieves & Hawkes earlier this month after the unexpected exit of Simon Spurr, the brand’s former creative director. Spurr’s first collection was going to be for spring 2017 at London Collections: Men. He had succeeded Jason Basmajian, who is now chief creative officer at Cerruti 1881.
Frost was named to the post after four years on the brand’s creative team. He previously worked with Tom Ford, and Hackett. WWD sat with Frost to discuss his new role and upcoming changes at the brand.
WWD: What are your plans and vision for the brand?
Mark Frost: I’ve been here just coming up to four years, and the new role is obviously a really exciting position for me. We’ve got a great foundation that has been building over the last couple of years. It’s my role to continue that development, really. My personal taste is probably slightly more playful, and we need to continue on this slight modernization of the brand to stay relevant. I want to try and make it feel a little more playful, a little more British, and young.
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WWD: How do you feel about taking the helm?
MF: I’m really excited. We’ve got a young, dynamic, excited, management team. It’s a great opportunity for us to show what we can do with such an amazing brand with incredible heritage. It’s like a fun start-up — almost — but with these 200-plus years of heritage.
WWD: How were you approached for this role?
MF: There is a team that has been here for a while, working fiendishly away behind the scenes and obviously I have been here for four years, so I have a really good understanding of the business, and of the way we have been progressing for the last four years. I was lucky to be considered for the new position. We spoke long and hard with all of the senior management, and they decided I’d be capable of continuing the development.
WWD: What are some of the changes that you’re going to make, and can you give us some idea of what the first collection will look like in June?
MF: What I can tell you about June’s collection is it will feel a bit lighter, a bit more playful, with a little bit more color. It’s probably a little bit less serious than where we’ve been, but we are trying to keep our foundations in the right place and we are trying to look at different ways of presenting tailoring. That is what our brand is built on, trying to find interesting ways of wearing tailoring because that is the foundation of our business. But we don’t want it to be too “business suit oriented.” It’s a bit more playful, a bit more ethereal and definitely with a bit more color.
WWD: How has working at Tom Ford and Hackett helped you?
MF: Working with Tom was my first job. It taught me so much just about a certain part of the industry, even outside of the design process. It taught me as much about how to interact with people in the business and how you want to put yourself across. It’s just such an amazing opportunity to see somebody like that.
Obviously…it was just amazing to see. And just working with the finest manufacturers and the finest fabric, learning from some incredibly talented people, that’s opened so many doors for me and helped get me to where I am today.
Hackett, likewise, is just full of some very talented people and everyone is enthusiastic about what they do. I think that both of those brands are slightly more formal, so that certainly helped with the foundations of our business here, but it’s great to be able to push those boundaries and foundations, if you like.
WWD: Can you talk about any upcoming projects and plans?
MF: I can’t say anything too specific at the moment, but hopefully there are some big things to come. Nothing is confirmed as yet. As I said, we have a big desire to build on the foundations, so there are going to be some changes to the way the brand looks. Considered, measured changes, and also hopefully changes in the way that we work with marketing and all that. I think the aesthetic will change a little bit.