Attire Accessories - Mar/Apr 2019 (Issue 75)

60 Perhaps best known for his role in British reality show Made In Chelsea, Hugo Taylor has long since shaken his reality star typecast and is becoming recognised as a successful brand owner of the sunglasses range he co-founded with friend Charlie Morris – one that is fast becoming a stalwart of the British eyewear market. With the brand growing at an incredible rate and recently stocked in World Duty Free, it’s surely only a matter of time before it challenges the great and the good of the designer sunglasses market. Tell me a bit about how the label was started. Charlie Morris and I came up with Taylor Morris at lunch one afternoon while in Ibiza. We had both lost our sunglasses the previous evening and were lamenting the fact that we could never find the style and quality we really wanted in the marketplace. Our rather rosé-fuelled lunch centred around brainstorming classical frames with a preppy bohemian twist. We wanted to take frames worn by our favourite stage and screen icons and make them fit for 21 st -century life. How were the initial products developed, and what was the response? We were extremely fortunate in that having sent a launch-party invitation to the head buyer at Harvey Nichols, she took a look at our campaign video, which had a Smiths song playing over it. That was enough to get us a meeting and bag us our exclusive debut stockist. A week after that, we were on the front page of the Evening Standard with Rita Ora wearing our frames. What challenges did you face, and how were they overcome when starting the business? To be honest, the challenges never stop; they just get bigger. The only way to overcome them is perseverance. What is it that sets you apart from your competitors? I think there are two main things. First and foremost, it’s me and Charlie. We stand behind our brand in every way, and the frames are made from our unique point of view. Second, our quality at our price point is extremely attractive. Who doesn’t want a better-made product for less? How important is the location and history of the company to its success? London is part of our DNA. When you wear Taylor Morris, you are connecting to the soul of the city.