Looking at the industry as a whole, he believes it’s time to rethink luxury pricing and oversupply. His experience at the outlets told him what prices people are willing to pay in the current climate. “We were selling the best branded items for maybe just 20% of their original price. Branded items can’t survive this.”
Returning to the upcoming sale, Saul will be filling his and Mulberry’s stories into his notes and curation of the auction catalogue, but how do you think he’ll be feeling on the actual day? “Oh, I don’t know, I’m on holiday in Tresco,” he shrugs. Any regrets? “The end of Mulberry was incredibly painful… we were very angry. But you have to be as good at exiting as you are at taking chances… that’s the entrepreneur’s life… we went global and I failed. And I was probably quite happy because I think you have to be quite ruthless to do certain things. [like in racing] You have to take somebody out to get around that corner. I think I’ve done that a few times in business, but I didn’t do it to kill somebody. I mean figuratively. When you get to the top, it’s totally ruthless. “I became a billionaire because I had to step on other people and make tough decisions.”
Speaking of billionaires, we’re curious to know what he thinks about Somerset’s unfashionableness, with international artists flocking by helicopter to The Newt hotel or swooping around the village of Breton, home to Hauser & Wirth’s rural branch. “When I started in Somerset it was a dairy town with a few big factories – Dents and Clarks – so what you saw was that the most productive towns became the coolest. Geordie Greig was the first to write about it in the late ’90s. I remember Mulberry being featured in Tatler magazine with a map of the town.” There’s a hesitation. So are he and Monty a bit removed from the scene? “No, we’re in it, we just don’t like being there all the time. But I used to run a bottle-top stand with my son Cameron at Camp Kerala in Glasgow, so yeah, we were there.”
He was still on-trend at the time, and undoubtedly had Tigger’s indomitable spirit. “Maybe it’s in my DNA. My dad was incredibly optimistic… I love life. My mind is racing from one thing to the next… just always wanting to do the next exciting thing. There were some very unpleasant scenarios along the way…” he said, jokingly referencing the 2021 fashion biopic The House of Gucci. But he didn’t finish the thought. “I wasn’t killed, that’s good news,” he said sarcastically. Like I said, it’s a documentary series. Netflix…? Ridley Scott…? Someone should call Saul.
The auction for Roger Sole’s “The Personal Mulberry Archive” will take place on August 7th. For more details, visit dreweatts.com.
