Wall Luxury Essentials

Wall London
HQ London, UK
Website wall-london.com
Industry Clothing retailer
Products Women's clothing and accessories

Wall Luxury Essentials Ltd is a retailer of women's clothing and accessories. The company began as a shop in London's Notting Hill, before expanding into Mail order in 1999, and E-commerce in 2000. The company is known for its use of natural fabrics, including Peruvian Pima cotton, Alpaca fiber, Vicuña, Premium European linen, Mongolian cashmere and Silk, and its "grown-up range of subtle clothing".[1]

History

Year History
1997 Company founded by Hernán and Judith de Balcázar. Boutique opened in Notting Hill, London.[2]
1999 Mail order catalogue division launched.
2000 Website launched[3]
2003-2005 Wall fund raises for the Patachanka community in Peru.
2006 Wall fund raises to support the Caritas Felices orphanage in Peru
2009 German website launched.[4]
2010 New UK website launched.[3]
2007-2011 Wall runs internship program for disadvantaged young people in Peru.[5]
2011 Two new interns begin their training.

Retail

Mail order

Wall runs its mail order division from its head offices in west London.

Boutique

Wall's boutique is located at 1 Denbigh Road, off of Westbourne Grove, Notting Hill

The boutique occasionally hosts mini-collections and special events exclusive to the shop.[2]

Merchandising

Design ethos

Wall designs and sells two collections of women's wear per year; Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter. The focus is on producing clothes which are "flattering and stylish, and suit a woman who wishes to look good whilst remaining comfortable".[6] Wall's clothes are designed with a certain type of women in mind; women who "have artistic and intellectual lives as well as a social one",[7] and who are "more energetic, independent and healthier than any previous generation of women".[1]

As Director of Design Judith de Balcázar says, "Women want to look chic and interesting, but it can be difficult because your body changes when you have children and you get older. Comfort is crucial - you don't want things that are grabbing you round the middle, but you still want to look attractive, so I designed clothes that flatter a womanly shape".[8]

Wall's clothes frequently feature in the fashion pages of the national press and have been described as "the Thinking Woman's Label",[9] "the epitome of casual luxury",[10] "clean and modern",[11] "practical, no-nonsense"[9] and a "grown-up range of subtle clothing".[1] The designs are inspired by oriental styles and feature sharp, clean lines, oversized asymmetrical shapes and hand finished details. Collections are typically made up of natural and neutral shades such as grey, navy, black and brown, complemented by brighter colours such as chartreuse, pink and aqua.

All Wall clothes are designed by the company's in house design team at their London studio.

Ethics

Wall operates as an ethical business. It takes into account the needs of all stakeholders when making business decisions.[12]

Wall works to create employment in Peru by buying materials from small, family owned businesses. "From what we saw charity could not create the same benefits as work. Job opportunities and education are very important. It was about working with the parents so that less children were put in the position of being so disadvantaged." Says Hernán Balcázar.[12] Further to this, Wall also runs an internship program offering vocational training in industrial knitting.

All of Wall's suppliers, whatever their size, must abide by Wall's code of conduct. This sets standards of health, safety and pay.[12] No child labour is used by Wall's suppliers.

Wall also uses environmentally aware printers to print their catalogues, and recycles wherever possible. All paper is taken from sustainable sources.

Finally, Wall only uses fur from animals which have died naturally. Wall does not kill animals for their fur, and will never support this practise.[13]

Community Work

Throughout its 14-year history, charity and community projects have been important to Wall.[5] In March 2011 this was recognised during a debate on ethical fashion at the House of Lords. Baroness Rendell of Babergh stated that Wall "set an example that could be a standard for [fashion] companies".[14]

2007-2011

Wall runs an internship program in partnership with British Community Trust[15] and The Colour of Hope for care home leavers. This program trains young Peruvians to use professional knitting machines, and pays them a salary during the one-year training program.[16] At the completion of the course, each participant is given an industrial knitting machine to use so that they will always have a means to support themselves.

2006

Wall raised funds to support "Caritas Felices" (Happy Faces), an orphanage for abused girls based in Lima.[17] Money raised by Wall has helped pay for basic provisions such as food, school equipment and towels.

2003-2005

Wall customers raised funds for members of the remote Patachanka community in Peru. The harsh local climate makes it difficult to farm in this area, and as a result the community suffers from poverty and nutritional deficiencies. Funds raised by Wall were spent on trees, chickens and essential medicines for the community.[11][12]

2000-2001

Wall arranged for students from Royal College of Art to travel to Peru to meet suppliers. This facilitated an exchange of knowledge on design, production and knitting.

Notes

    References

    1. 1 2 3 "Chic, subtle clothes for Grown Ups". London: The Times. 2004-02-06. Retrieved 2010-05-27.
    2. 1 2 "Wall - Our Boutique".
    3. 1 2 "Wall - website".
    4. ↑ "Wall - German website".
    5. 1 2 "Internship at Wall".
    6. ↑ "Wall London - About Us". London: Wall London. 2010-01-17. Retrieved 2011-04-21.
    7. ↑ "Thinking Women's Clothes". London: The Times. 2005-03-25. Retrieved 2010-05-27.
    8. ↑ Kiddle, Jessica (2005-07-29). "A touch of class straight out of Peru". Edinburgh: The Scotsman. Retrieved 2010-05-27.
    9. 1 2 Alexander, Hilary (2010-03-22). "A style for the thinking woman, by way of Wall London, from Peru". London: The Telegraph. Retrieved 2011-03-22.
    10. ↑ Alexander, Hilary (2004-10-05). "Natural beauty for grown-up women". London: The Telegraph. Retrieved 2010-05-27.
    11. 1 2 Morris, Belinda (2004-01-04). "Close knit". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2010-05-27.
    12. 1 2 3 4 "Wall's Ethics". | "Wall's Ethics".
    13. ↑ "Ethical fashions".
    14. ↑ "Lords Hansard text for 3rd March 2011".
    15. ↑ "British Community Trust".
    16. ↑ "The Colour of Hope".
    17. ↑ "Caritas Felices".
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