In celebration of our arrival at Kilver Court we met up with the
charismatic man at its helm; Mulberry founder, organic farmer and
eco racing car driver, Roger Saul to chat about a fascinating
career born from a love of 'quirky Britishness'.
What do you think defines the quintessential British
lifestyle?
Interpreting the British lifestyle is always best viewed from an
international perspective. As I developed Mulberry through the 70s
and 80s I decided to head around the world to try to understand how
the brand and British style as a whole was being perceived outside
the country. To my surprise, I discovered that we were regarded as
highly fashionable but in a very relaxed and effortless way, which
was something we hadn't fully appreciated ourselves. So I adopted
some of that 'Vie Anglaise' and projected it back into Mulberry,
where we then coined the now very fitting term 'quintessentially
British'.
Has being based in Somerset played an important part in
your work?
Fashion lives and breathes in the city but I am drawn to country
life because it is so enduring, everything about it demands
respect. When I first started Mulberry I was living in both the
country and the city as I had a flat in Ladbroke Gardens and the
factory in Somerset, so flitting between the two was a constant
reminder of this great juxtaposition we have in Britain.
Understanding and translating between the two has been so important
to my work, right up to today when I sell produce from my farm at
Sharpham Park to Harvey Nichols and Selfridges.
What makes the experience at Kilver Court so
special?
Ever since we established the Mulberry factory shop at Kilver
Court in 1996 it has been considered a destination store and
visited by all sorts from as far afield as Japan. A big part of the
attraction are the surroundings; we are very lucky to be situated
in the most amazing gardens that have been crafted over the last
150 years including a 50s Chelsea Flower Show gold medal winning
rockery garden with waterfalls and a mill boating lake, not to
mention the buildings themselves which are wonderful industrial
textile mills with high painted ceilings and timber floors.
With such a long and illustrious career behind you what
have been your proudest moments?
There have been so many: winning the Historic Grand Prix in
Porto in front of 50,000 people was an amazing moment, as was
putting on Mulberry's first fashion show in Paris or creating one
of the first 'it' bags, and then there are the very humbling
moments down on the farm during lambing season. There have been all
sorts of defining moments and I have been an incredibly lucky
individual to have such a great cross-section of experience to draw
from and even more so to still be doing it today.
