A Conversation With David Mullane, Scion of Scottish Style
so this was pitched for a website last year for the 5th anniversary of the wonderful w2 boutique. i interviewed the lovely david mullane, typed up our convo, edited it and all that and then, nada. i’ve been meaning to put it online for a while, but the recent news that david is going to be speaking at pure’s first menswear event in feb 2016 made me believe that there’s no better time to put this up, what the hell. if you’re in glasgow, drop by w2 and give david some of your time, and pick me up some off-season margaret howell. or that junya watanabe jacket i always go in and gawk at. dx.
David Mullane is a name you should know about. In the late Seventies and early Eighties, Mullane was Merchandise Director of iconic Glasgow emporium The Warehouse, responsible for bringing high-fashion names to the UK: he sold early Paul Smith, introduced Dries van Noten and his peers in the Antwerp Six and showcased John Paul Gaultier’s first collections. After the outlet’s 1994 dissolution, the long-time architecture buff left the retail scene to become director of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society.
Then in 2002, after bypassing an academic career for most his life, he decided to attend university. While enrolling in a Masters in Fashion Marketing, a fellow student mentioned a Adrian Joffe, president of avant-garde label Comme des Garçons. Joffe was seeking a Glasgow location for CDG’s infamous pop-up “Guerilla Stores”; Mullane found a Nineteenth Century farm outbuilding. An email exchange later and he was manning CDG’s last Guerilla Store in the world.
That store evolved into the Mullane-owned W2, named after the old Glasgow postcode it inhabited. One of GQ’s best menswear shops outside of London, W2 occupies the same outbuilding and maintains its CDG connection, but has since spread its wings. With Mullane approaching the five year anniversary of his return to fashion, I rang his flat in Glasgow’s hip West End for a chat.
So, the fifth anniversary’s coming up...
DAVID MULLANE: It’s a wee bit complicated - we had our fifth anniversary dated from when we opened the Guerilla Store. We didn’t run the Guerilla Store for a full year because we transferred into W2 before that year ended. People are surprised I work in retail, going “it’s not the easiest thing to do!” But for me it’s a very enjoyable kind of business, because you’re helping people find things they like.
You have a pretty storied history when it comes to British fashion. How did you start out?
My first role, circa 1973, was as a menswear buyer in a department store called Gordon Brothers and given the role of catering for a new breed of fashion-conscious guys. I was given a number for Paul Smith, who was beginning his menswear design career, and travelled to Nottingham to meet him. Guys dressed like their dads but Paul and other designers gave us individuality, and I brought his clothes to Glasgow.
How did that turn into Merchandise Director at The Warehouse?
The original Gordon Brothers' building was turned into The Warehouse in 1978 and I oversaw buying.
What was the fashion scene like at that time in Glasgow?
The fashion scene throughout the Eighties was vibrant and new. The nightclub scene fed the desire to look good and the shop satisfied that need.
(pictured above: The Warehouse, 1988.)
Do you have any anecdotes about The Warehouse and the people that visited it?
I can clearly remember Billy Connolly coming in and chatting a lot. I remember the dancer Michael Clark visiting with the choreographer Stephen Petronio - I met Stephen recently and he clearly remembered the Gaultier jacket that he bought from The Warehouse.
How do Commes des Garçons come into the picture?
Towards the end of the Eighties we felt that The Warehouse looked a bit tired. We refurbished, at great cost, and added Commes des Garçons. I had loved to walk along the rue Étienne Marcel in Paris, visiting their shop and it felt so right to add them when we re-launched in 1991.
So what happened for The Warehouse to close?
The refurbishment had added greatly to our running costs: we were selling more than a million pounds each year but with forty staff, our operating costs were too high. Elsewhere, the high-street shops were employing their own designers and upping their game. We gave up while we could still pay all our creditors.
What brought you back into fashion?
Serendipity. In 2002, I went to university and made a very good friend there, James Gilchrist. One of James’ contacts had a friend that worked for CDG, and I got a call one day saying that Adrian Joffe [CDG president] was coming to Glasgow. He knew I had dealt with him so I was asked to go and say hello.
How did you know Adrian Joffe?
I had known Adrian before he headed for Japan. He sold me his sister's Rose’s knitwear collection. Indeed, I was buying CDG from their Paris showroom on Place Vendome, at the time when he and [CDG founder] Rei Kawakubo married.
I knew the Guerilla Stores had been in architecturally interesting, unusual places. I saw this quirky shop unit in Glasgow that caught my eye. It was a serendipitous collection of having Adrian’s email address and sending some photos his way: that’s what created the very last CDG Guerilla Store.
The space really intrigued me, because it’s adjacent to what was the last dairy farm on Byers Road, which takes its name from dairy farming buildings there, back before houses and shops. The building we occupy was probably the farm’s outbuilding. I thought of the possibilities of giving it a modern feel in the spirit of CDG. Most CDG clothes have a primary colour base, so the choices of colour were important - a cool white rather than a warm white, for example, and fluorescent tube lights to give definition between navy and black clothes.
As somebody with a vested interest in architecture, did it help reignite your passion with fashion?
Architecture’s always interested me, and in a way, CDG clothes do that function for the body, creating an envelope that gives the wearer comfort and individuality. I was asked about my favourite designers in university, and said Rei Kawakubo. That created this bond with James, my study mate, who’s living the CDG dream as well. [Gilchrist is the manager of Dover Street Market NY.]
(pictured above: Fashion Meets Theatre' on the set of Peter Brook's Mahabharata during Glasgow European City of Culture 1990)
Judging from the relationships that you and Mr Gilchrist have with the label, do CDG have a relationship to Scottish style?
Well… [deliberates] I know that Rei and Adrian have come for holidays, but I’m not sure about a connection to Scottish style… Choosing Glasgow for the last Guerrilla Store, it showed an appreciation for the city’s cultural background. In art terms, Glasgow nowadays is almost where Berlin was before the Wall came down. There was a very big artistic community then and we seem to have taken that spot now.
Guerrilla Stores were limited to a year’s existence. Did the temporary status make you uneasy?
When I found myself back in retail I realised how much I had missed it. I had started out in The Warehouse, and it felt a bit like I’d come full circle. There’s now an element of finding our own level now, because W2’s part of the city’s retail. On an ongoing basis, I hope.
In June 2010, the last Guerrilla Store became W2. Did you feel like “we’ve stuck this one out”?
Well, I felt grateful we had such success and that CDG’s management team were happy to continue supporting us. We’d built up a relationship with a core customer base and we appealed to a lot of people that don’t seem to hang about. Visitors are a big part because Glasgow’s West End is attractive to international travellers and you really get a lot of people coming around us.
I remember during the Glasgow International, Jim Lambie [Turner Prize-nominated artist] brought someone into the shop that absolutely thrilled me: Gerard Melanga, who had worked with Warhol. Another day, a local man brought in Andrew Oldham, who was very important to teenage me for managing the Rolling Stones. It was very exciting seeing that man in my shop, trying on CDG jackets! It’s not just celebrities - real people that get pleasure from the clothes give me pleasure.
Do you feel like your shop stays under the radar?
Yeah. People come in and gasp because they don’t expect to see CDG products down a cobbled lane. It’s maybe something you would expect in London or Paris, but for a lot of people it’s a surprise. It’s so funny - people come in all the time saying “is this a vintage clothes shop?” [haughtily] Does it look like one?! I don’t think so!
What would you say have been some of the most significant moments for W2?
The challenge of finding a companion brand to CDG, which was one of the stipulations after the Guerrilla Store. A friend mentioned Margaret Howell to me and it was a eureka moment - yeah, that’d be great! I’ve admired Margaret’s work since discovering her way back in the Eighties.
Then, James moved to New York to work with Adam Kimmel. They didn’t have any vintage stock, but they sent cancelled orders to W2. That was exciting for us, because a lot of people would walk in and be startled. Once you looked at the quality, you realised this was something very special. Sadly, Adam decided to stop. He was speaking about making a film about American artists, so we can look forward to that.
There’s an interesting balance between your stock. Some call Margaret Howell conservative, especially when compared to the more adventurous CDG stuff like the Junya Watanabe line.
There is always a challenge. We get reduced-price clothes at the end of a line, which is how Margaret Howell and CDG work with us. At full price, it’s too much for a retail city like Glasgow, so that’s an aspect of W2: bringing clothes that wouldn’t usually be available here.
Is there’s a curatorial aspect to running the store?
It is a curatorial job, the same way an art gallery curator puts elements together that excite, surprise and sit well together. I’ve always spent time travelling and looking at galleries; in The Warehouse days I was in Paris six times a year, and you end up seeing an incredible amount of work. Even if it takes half a day out of your trip to look at a gallery, that curatorial instinct becomes part of your process.
Any anniversary celebrations booked?
Well, we always love an excuse for a party! I’m pretty sure we have one in mind.
Does it feel like five years already?
Oh, it feels like no time at all. It’s really difficult to believe that it’s five years. The young turk that was here with me from the beginning, he’s gone through university, his post-grad and is now in Berlin with his lovely girlfriend, working in the industry… When I think about that, I realise time has passed. It just doesn’t feel like any time at all. The reality is that five years on, it’s sheer pleasure.
Any style recommendations for autumn/winter?
I’m seeing a number of disciplined textures appearing in Cote en Ciel bags and S.N.S. Herning knitwear we sell. Textures melanges and colour mixes - little specks of black in something that’s essentially blue, then a little white... That’s exciting me.
Anything you’d advise to not wear this season?
Hmmm. Well, I don’t want to say not to wear skinny jeans. But… [laughs]
