A new day for Jag: How APG & Co is waking up its “sleeper brand”

f this amazing legacy brand in the Australian market. I feel like it’s a bit of a sleeper brand. Everybody knows it, but they don’t know where it’s been. It has all this untapped potential. Last year, I put the 50th anniversary to the side so we could celebrate in the way we wanted to, so we’re actually extending the celebration into this year.  We’re currently working on a limited-edition capsule collection of 50 pieces that will launch in a few months. We’re really grounded in ethical and sustainable design and production principles, so we want to speak to that, while also going back to the heritage of the brand in the denim space, and showing what the brand is today. It’s a combination of all of those things. Jag’s head of brand Samantha De Kauwe. Source: Supplied IR: Can you provide an overview of the history of the brand – when it first started, what its point of differentiation was and how it has evolved over the past 50 years?  SDK: It was started by an Australian fashion designer called Adele Palmer in 1972. She built it up to be one of the country’s most iconic denim and casualwear brands, specialising in signature denim detailing and really easy styling. If you look back on some of the archival images, some of them look like they could be from an Isabel Marant campaign from a couple of years ago. They’re really quite timeless. She not only grew it really quickly here in Australia, but when she and her family moved to L.A., they expanded it significantly across the US, Canada and Japan. It became so well-known that a lot of people actually thought it was an American brand, even a lot of Australians, because she had a boutique in Beverly Hills.  It was probably one of the original brands that built a cult celebrity following. They would pop into her boutique, buy the denim, and then people would see Bianca Jagger, Robert Redford and all these amazing celebrities wearing the brand, and that’s how she expanded her  distribution.  [Palmer] then moved back to Australia, and the brand changed ownership, but she repurchased it in the ’90s and built it back up again. The ’90s were the brand’s iconic heyday, and then over the last few decades, it changed ownership a couple of times, and it’s had various turns in terms of its branding. But its strong heritage has meant that it has always been a well-known and iconic brand. You can’t buy that brand awareness in this day and age.  APG & Co acquired the brand from Colorado Group back in 2014, and they’ve had it since then. It’s been the little baby in the group, but everyone wants to see it fly. It’s been a really nice year for us, all coming together and going, ‘How do we get it back into its heyday, and grow the business and realise all the potential that we know that it has?’ IR: What do you see as the biggest opportunities for the brand?  SDK: I really believe in authenticity, and I believe in building brands that are real, that are relatable, that have a story. So for me, a lot of it is looking back into the past and seeing what worked, but then also going, ‘Where is the world at today?’ The back story is wonderful, and that’s something we’ll incorporate into our capsule collection.  We don’t want to stray too far from the brand’s founding DNA, because it’s still as relevant now as it was in its heyday. The opportunity is in going back to our roots, but adding in new elements like amazing quality and accessible price points for Australian customers who are looking for value, but also responsibility, whether that be social or environmental – and don’t want to compromise on that really effortless Australian style.  IR: Who is the average Jag customer today?  SDK: We are about customer mindsets, as opposed to demographics. Whenever we talk about our customer, we bring it back to the product perspective. The first thing we always look at is whether it’s comfortable. Is it functional? And does it feel good to wear? Our customer values that. They’re not the type of customer who will wear anything as long as it looks good. They want it to be made out of great natural fibres, or have a really flattering cut.  We’ve got quite a wide range [of customers] to be honest. We have customers who email us about a denim shirt they bought 30 years ago, and they still have it. I actually love that because we want to build products that last. We’re not a fad brand. We’re built to last, we use responsible materials, we’re trying to be really conscious in our purchasing, we’re trying to minimise our wastage, we want to encourage upcycling – that’s a little sneak peak into what we’re doing with some of our heritage products for the capsule collection.  IR: Can you provide a snapshot of what the business looks like today? What does your physical footprint look like? Which markets do you operate in?  SDK: We’re currently distributed exclusively through David Jones, across both the men’s and women’s departments in 40 stores, and we’re also available through David Jones online. We also have our own brand site, and we retail through The Iconic as well. We had a few pop-up stores that we were dabbling in, but I’ve decided to pull back on that and execute the channels that we’re in really well.  We’re in Australia and New Zealand at the moment. There are various international licences for the brand, but they aren’t part of the business at this point in time. There are approximately 30 employees who work across the Jag brand in various capacities at APG & Co. We’re tracking at about 30 per cent up on last year in terms of our revenue, so we’re definitely on the right trajectory for where we want to be going. IR: What are your top priorities for the brand in 2023?  SDK: This year is all about introducing a new generation of people to Jag. The way to do that is establishing the brand’s denim heritage in the market. So for me, the focus will be on perfecting our fit and our washes for the ultimate denim range. We’re not trying to be crazy directional, but we want to offer those wardrobe staples that you must have. A big part of that is establishing a core collection of styles that can be worn back with our denim, or rotated really easily in your wardrobe. We call them “better basics” internally because they’re not so basic that you could buy them from a discount retailer – they’ve got quality and those great little design details – but they are products that you can wear all the time, which I think is important.  All of that is being done in a responsible way. That means the best possible materials, as much natural fibres as we can, and seeing that the people who make the garments are treated fairly – that’s very important to our business. Those are our three pillars of responsibility that we’re working towards.  IR: Can you tell me about your approach to omnichannel, given that Jag doesn’t have its own stores?  SDK: At this stage, we’re focused on David Jones and our online distribution, but having great own-brand store experiences is definitely in our future plans.  I want the customer experience to be quintessentially Jag in terms of feeling relaxed, but with considered details and grounded in those responsible and sustainable foundations. In a department store environment, you’re limited in how you can present that, but you have signage and information, and we’re really training our teams on what the brand stands for.  Online essentially becomes our flagship store where we have all of this information. We just re-launched our new website platform in October last year. Having said that, the full functionality will come into effect in March or April. We’re looking to make it a real hub of information on the brand. At the moment, it’s quite functional, but it’s presented in a way that’s in line with where we’re going aesthetically.  IR: On the international side of things, would you consider expanding the brand beyond Australia and New Zealand? SDK: Absolutely. The focus has been on getting the brand set up and working well in our Australian and New Zealand markets, but the international market is going to be key for us in building that brand presence and capitalising on that global brand recognition. When we’re in America, people still remember Jag from back in the day, which is great. IR: How do you plan to capture the next generation of Jag customers?  SDK: Everyone wants the secret sauce, but I’m a big believer in the one percenters – everything you do counts. I come from a marketing background, so I really value building a brand, because you can’t buy that authenticity. Having said that, product is king, so you’ve got to get the product right. You’ve got to spend time in your retail stores talking to the retail team and trying to get customer feedback on how the fit feels. Is the material scratchy? How is it after you wash it?  Once you build a good product, it’s all about how you present it. I want us to be really real, very relatable. We’re not exclusive, we’re inclusive. Jag always had a little bit of attitude, a little bit of edge. It was really direct. We really like that, and I think people respond to that, so I think it’s about introducing all of those elements back into the brand, but not in a way that feels like, “You can’t sit with us.”  It’s about having great products, great prices, and a good brand persona. That was the approach from last year, and we’re getting great traction with that, so we’re just going to be doing more and more of that.