This story is about a yellow cloak. Or how a person who did not have enough heat and sun decided to create them himself. People liked his idea, and the brand has already gained popularity far beyond the borders of Russia.
Petersburg brand SHU: how it all began
Andrey Kravtsov is a young designer hailing from Severouralsk (Yekaterinburg region). Now its production in St. Petersburg is gaining momentum. It all started with a gloomy rainy morning and a great desire to create.
Andrei came to the fashion scene from ... the automotive industry. The young man with great ambitions to become a rock singer moved to St. Petersburg. But, as often happens in life, the music did not work out.
He got a job at the plant as a modest car assembler. And he had an immodest dream - to create what friends and acquaintances in St. Petersburg lacked: comfortable and inexpensive waterproof clothing .
How many jackets, down jackets and other things necessary for life were sewn and sewn back in the evenings, probably, the designer himself will not remember! How many patterns, cheat sheets were created in accordance with the size, volume, quantity and quality of materials - do not count.
There were a lot of things: aspirations, support, ideas, but there was just a catastrophic lack of time. And his first customers were just colleagues in the auto industry .
Once our hero went on vacation. Just for a week. What do ordinary people do on vacation? That's right - they rest from the works of the righteous. Andrei did his best this week and earned as much as a month brought him in production (financial issues were important for the young man).
It became clear that it was time to get to our feet and it was time to start our own business. This first money was invested in materials and tools.
Reference. The SHU brand really started with a bright yellow raincoat, which was sold on April 1, 2012.
SHU products: what, where and how the brand is manufactured
A few years ago it was possible to limit ourselves to the words: outerwear for the autumn-winter season for cold-weather Petersburgers. Today it is worth telling more about this.
What became the brand's products
The brand really started with raincoats, raincoats, raincoats with a hood, a parka .
At the very beginning, Andrei Kravtsov sincerely presented his products to musicians whose work was close to him. Idols liked the raincoats, the word of mouth worked: they began to recommend it to friends.
The assortment of the store expanded due to accessories: caps, bags, and backpacks were added . In addition, the customer, when buying things, receives his detailed description and a cover for transportation and storage .
Important. The cost of things with the SHU brand is pleasantly different from the prices of similar products of world manufacturers.
And the guys value their reputation. When in one of the lots of clothes the fabric of hoods began to sprinkle, all things were immediately replaced.
Where and how are products manufactured?
The creators of simple, comfortable and technological clothes for every day follow new developments and use what is in line with the company's philosophy.
Reference. In the process of sewing, the company does not use materials of animal origin. For production, only advanced artificial materials are purchased: membrane fabrics, synthetic insulation.
Why such a democratic price tag? It's simple: to reduce the cost of production, Andrei turned to the capabilities of Chinese factories . Yes, he has to live long in the Celestial Empire, but it's worth it. Costs are reduced - the number of completed orders is growing.
In Russia, the designer is ready to cooperate with those who are close in spirit, ready to produce something in common. Examples of such cooperation are a collection of clothes released with the yacht club "Wind Power" and a beer company from St. Petersburg.
Success Story: How SHU Learned in the World
First, SHU goods were sold in St. Petersburg, then buyers appeared in other large cities - Moscow and Yekaterinburg. Now there, as in St. Petersburg, branded flagship stores have opened.
In January 2019, the SHU brand began to conquer the Eastern and European markets .
Reference. Kravtsov's team showed the goods at four exhibitions in Europe, where brands from all over the world were represented. The most effective for the guys was the site of the very first of them - Pitti Uomo.
The result of foreign tours of the first season was an updated logo, a changed corporate identity, a more original presentation of models. The children learn to choose distributors and work with them, establish business and friendly relations, conclude contracts, plan the direction of collections for future years. And also in the near future - the supply of clothing to Scandinavia, Korea and Japan.
Today, SHU is a serious business that brings tangible profits. And that means that many important decisions still have to be made. I would like to believe that the person who brought a piece of the sun into the gloomy weather of St. Petersburg can solve even more complex issues.
