It Started with Looking for a Gift……
While looking for a laptop case for his brother, Niklas Oppermann couldn’t quite find what he wanted. Oppermann London is the result of this frustration
Article by Rupert Watkins
Niklas and Mattis Oppermann had always been interested igoing into business together. In 2011, Niklas was hunting for a leather laptop case for his brother and couldn’t find anything that wasn’t ridiculously overpriced. This moment of insight allowed them to see a gap in the market although at the time they never dreamed it would develop into the brand it is today. Niklas had had a long term interest in fashion and style and worked in Shanghai for just under two years allowing him to learn the basics of working with manufacturers.
Launched in November 2012, Oppermann has not been plain sailing for the two brothers. After an initial dalliance with a Swedish-owned factory in India, Niklas and Mattis changed their manufacturing base and business model last year, developing a relationship with a number of Italian firms and craftsmen; “Oppermann’s aim has always been to source the finest components in Europe to merge them with the finest artisans” Niklas states. They had also operated on a wholesale model in the beginning, but this also changed to become an internet only brand operating within a streamlined direct-to-consumer framework.
Oppermann sources leather from tanneries in Sweden and Italy. Born and bought up in Sweden, Niklas is understandably a fan of the leather from that country. Working with the 140 year old Tärnsjö Garveri tannery, the two brothers came across the house’s Plymå leather. Vegetable tanned, it is a non-embossed hide and is tumbled to make it soft and tactile. Due to the way livestock is reared in Sweden, cows tend to be larger and their skins have slightly less insect blemishes than elsewhere. This means both larger single hides for craftsmen and less crinkling in the leather. Their Italian tannery is a fourth generation owned firm - one of the many clustered near Sante Croce (though some of the hides come from France and Germany). Niklas and Mattis use one of the members of a 15 strong consortium dedicated to organic vegetable tanning. The lining comes from a Milanese factory while the brasswear comes from Raccagni- who also supply the zips for Tom Ford.
Niklas freely admits the toughest period the brand has had so far was the comprehensive change made in 2014. The brothers were dealing with a fresh supply chain and had to close down the wholesale business. There were also inevitable glitches in dealing with new craftsmen and mistakes as the first batches came through a completely different production cycle. Additionally, the marketing had to be re-targeted and kickstarted. However, that period is now thankfully behind this thriving brand and 2015 has allowed a change of focus onto design, operations and further marketing.
There is now a coherent and balanced range of leather goods ranging from laptop sleeves through stylish and well-designed briefcases to overnight and weekend bags. Their larger Core Collection is made from Italian leather while their Surface Collection is made from Swedish Plymå leather. All demonstrate the same minimalist, functional aesthetic with much of the thought and practicality only visible on close internal inspection. From the beginning, the bags have come first – the wallets have been a more recent addition, as Niklas puts it, “it is useful to have a product at that slightly lower price point to drive engagement.”
Niklas is pleased that Oppermann is now in a position to control the customer’s experience in a way that previously the brand couldn’t. Any faults will be rapidly dealt with, “customers appear more impressed by our response than the problem itself,” Niklas says smiling. He points to two distinct groups who come to their brand; a Square Mile 25 – 50 year old business-oriented customer and mid-level to senior creative professionals aged 35 – 45. “We’re also very popular with architects,” Niklas comments. The City clients are drawn to the brand as dealing with a customer oriented internet based firm saves them time. This smooth interface between excellent, keenly priced leather bags and the customers is seen in the fact 25 per cent of Oppermann’s business is repeat custom. 35 per cent of their custom is from the UK, 20 per cent from the US and another 20 per cent split between Germany and Sweden. Overall, clients have come to the brothers from over 40 countries.
Both Niklas and Mattis studied in London though in differing fields. Mattis only graduated last year after studying Design and Engineering whilst Niklas has a finance university background. Despite their Swedish upbringing, both decided to stay in London, Niklas pointing to the city’s entrepreneurial mentality and openness. Working together has not been a problem, “we combine very well with our differing backgrounds,” Niklas remarks, “though there are the occasional creative disagreements!” Since starting full time last year, Mattis has focused on the design and operation side of the business and his brother concentrates on business development –a logical break down of roles given their degrees. Such has been Oppermann’s success and growth over the past year that they are approaching the full capacity for the two brothers to run everything. As such, they have recently taken on an intern. Suppliers are talked with daily and the two brothers travel to Italy frequently to see their craftsmen and suppliers. “Leather commodity prices remain steady at the moment,” comments Niklas, “which aids in maintaining our supply channels and offering an extremely competitively priced end product.”
Looking to the near future, the internet will remain Oppermann’s domain of choice though Niklas hopes to continue to do carefully targeted pop-ups and there remains the aspiration to go back into retail. Under their own label, they are pondering long term plans for inventory free shops. There are also plans to offer women’s leather goods – probably towards the end of next year.
Chatting with Niklas, he explains that he uses his Oppermann bag as a leather crash test dummy – deliberately trying to use it as harshly as possible and accelerate the wear in the leather to see where faults might lie. So what mistakes do men make when looking for leather goods? “Men underestimate the amount and severity of use they put their bags through,” states Niklas. All too often buying a cheaper and inferior product proves to be a false economy given the real usage of that particular accessory. He also see a lot of men not knowing what use they’re buying for, “too many people are swayed by the, ‘it looks cool’ thing,” he says and believes men just need to take that extra five minutes to think whether an item is for work or play – or to ask advice. For beautifully produced and stylish bags – not to mention that advice – look up the Oppermann brothers and their leather.
Enquiries: http://www.oppermann-london.com/