PYRUS:

Fashion Designers

PYRUS:currently employs three people the co-founders (Ash) Ashwin Johnson and Lorraine Barnes, and Design & Admin Processor (Jo) Joanna Davies.

Ash and Lorraine first met in 1999 at The London College of Fashion where they both completed BA (Hons) DTFI in 2002. Jo joined Pyrus in 2005 after completing her degree at Central Saint Martins.

Pyrus was established in early 2003.

All images by Danielle Horn

How would you describe your fashion style in a couple of words?

Pyrus - Contemporary yet timeless pieces. Old world elegance withe new verve.

Me - Jeans and T-shirt

What are your views on fashion as an expression

I feel that 'Fashion as an expression' in this era is long gone. Everything now is about commercialism, fads and press influence. Not sounding cynical, but the whole 'living for the art' concept  sadly can not exist anymore as it won;t be long before someone takes your idea and makes money from it.

How hard is the fashion industry to break-through?

It is very hard, as it is not a very stable industry. 

How do you get noticed and how do you know what they are looking for?

Everyone wants to make fast and secure money. Obviously, talent gets you noticed but you also  have to offer something that your competitors can't i.e excellent deliveries - on time etc or competitive prices, Point of difference in designs, quality. You only know what your customer is looking for by constantly monitoring the market.

As much as i hate to say it, but media attention does help a great deal. But it all depends on how much money you have to throw at it.

What had you imagined the fashion industry to be? Is it was you imagined?

To be honest, when we started Pyrus, I don't think we ever had a clue as to how the industry would be. I think you need to be quite naive to start up any venture with big hopes and dreams. The inner workings, politics and business strategy as a whole is so important to know from the beginning, but if you do know it, one would never get into this or any kind of business. The Fashion industry is portrayed as a cut-throat industry - this is definately not an understatement! But it is not about how fantastic your designs are, there is a whole business process behind it that needs to be spot on - Marketing, Exposure, Sales strategy, Production, Management, Administration, Delivery times, Accounts, Customer complaints, returns and so on..... I think we expected the fashion Industry to be easy to crack, but Pyrus has very much proved us wrong.

Your most memorable moment

Watching the first ever buyers go through our first collection and writing orders. This is when we started out and converted our flat into a showroom.

Your greatest triumph

Finally getting our first London Department store to buy Pyrus.

What challenges are worth fighting for?

Pyrus as a company is a challenge in itself and it is definately worth fighting for. But I also face personal challenges between Family/ friends and the company. As your desire to be successful is so great, you can get easily consumed and obsessed by it, work has no end. My challenge is to always have time for my Family and friends over business.

Your future

To make Pyrus grow gradually but stably. We have just entered the US and German markets and want to aim to stabilize these markets along with UK market. Pyrus has only made a dent, but for the future we hope to grow into a brand, for it to naturally progress from a wholesale business to retail.

www.pyrusjaponica.com / www.anotherpyrus.com

Photos by Danielle Horn / Model - Caylen @ Oxygen