Kůs founded the company in 2015 with his childhood friend Ondřej Hyrš. His original education is an architect, but he only worked in the profession for a short time.
The explanation of why, as a graduate of the Brno Faculty of Architecture at the BUT, he finally decided to pursue a different field has a pragmatic basis: according to Kůs, fashion design is not that different from architecture.
“The individual steps are actually similar. The school showed me how to think about it – pay attention to precision and fine-tune the details,” says the owner of a successful fashion brand in an interview for the server zVUT.cz.
We correctly identified a gap in the market and after the initial success, we took it into full gear.
What does the brand name – Vuch actually mean?
That’s such an obligatory question (laughs). It has no specific meaning. We liked that it’s short, punchy and won’t be confused with other brands. At first we phonetically pronounced it “vuch”, but people changed it to “vúš”. All domains with this name were free, which is crucial for e-commerce.
But we didn’t think much about it. When we founded the brand seven years ago during our studies, we had no idea that it could grow like this. We were naive, but we tried hard to fine-tune everything graphically and aesthetically. The first collection of our polka dot Vuch wallets sold out in two days.
How do you explain such instant success?
By luck and good timing. The polka dots played a big role. It was a hit. It’s a nice and playful motif and we reached out to the target audience of younger women. Today it looks like a regular assortment, but back then the fashion scene seemed gray and bland. The market lacked a segment of playful women’s purses and mid-range handbags. Something between a luxury brand and a piece from the market.
We correctly identified a gap in the market and after the initial success, we took it into full gear. It also helped us that Facebook worked on more organic algorithms back then. We reached a lot of people almost for free with just clever creative and copywriting. Today it would not be so easy.
So you never studied the profession of architect?
I’m such a passive architect – I follow trends, I’m in contact with my classmates and once or twice a year I take charge of some kind of renovation. I only worked in an architectural studio during Erasmus in Paris. But the profession of a fashion designer is not that far from architecture.
Is there a difference between designing a house and a wallet?
It’s more about the whole process. Architecture taught me to think about the whole. It’s not just about making a house and being done. I have to coordinate with other professions, with the implementation itself. One learns management – whether construction or creating and managing a company. The individual steps are actually similar. The school showed me how to think about it – pay attention to precision and fine-tune the details. I learned this at the faculty and now I use it. Albeit in a different field, but it’s similar.
Now we have the rotten handbags ground into crumbs and use it to make stuffing for beanbags
How difficult is it to establish a successful fashion brand in the Czech Republic?
Today it would be a bit more difficult. The market is a much more competitive environment than seven years ago when we started. Starting a fashion brand from scratch is a long shot. If you don’t have an investor or rich parents behind you, aggressive marketing can help. It is not easy today, the market is oversaturated. But I still encourage everyone to give it a try. At most it won’t work.
Vuch operates on the Slovak, Hungarian, Croatian and Polish markets. Is the Czech fashion taste different from the mentioned countries?
We don’t observe it. Unfortunately, monochrome and black products rule everywhere. In recent years, burgundy is also getting into the word. We try to incorporate some playful element into our products – for example in the form of a colored lining. But the greatest interest is in decent things in darker and muted colors. Especially for handbags, women prefer something more universal. But they dare to buy a wallet.
What is the current flagship of your brand? Are they still polka dot purses?
We still have them in the menu, but we are already trying to move a little further. Urban and elegant backpacks come to the fore. It will be the best-selling segment next year. Handbags are becoming a bit out of fashion. It’s a lifestyle – women living in big cities put a laptop in their purse and go to work. But they prioritize comfort over elegance – rather than dazzle with a handbag, they prefer to throw on a practical backpack. Wallets remain the next best-selling segment. But our range is wider, we also produce jewellery, watches, clothes and shoes.
Are you striving for a sustainable and ecological approach?
Last year we introduced a collection of eco handbags that are completely made of recyclable material. And we figured out how to use defective products or returns from complaints. This is the overall problem of the textile industry – what to do with the tons of textile waste. Now we have the rotten handbags ground into crumbs and use it to make stuffing for beanbags. For every one sold, we donate one to kindergartens. We take the issue of ecology very seriously and we even received the award for responsible company of the year.
I am handing over some competences to younger designers to keep a fresh perspective as a brand.
Have you considered moving production to the Czech Republic?
It is not possible for us with such a volume of production – in Europe, we are not at all prepared for this technologically or in terms of capacity, compared to Asian countries. Even the most luxurious brands have also moved production to China or other Asian countries. And I don’t see much ecological sense in making handbags in the Czech Republic, just so we can put it on the website, when we still have to bring the material halfway around the world. Sometimes sustainability seems like a marketing game for some brands and the final balance of their actions is not very ecological.
After these seven years, where do you get inspiration for new designs?
In that time, we have introduced so many models of handbags and wallets that it is not so easy for me to come up with something new. That’s why I focus on business strategy and hand over some competencies to younger designers to keep a fresh perspective as a brand. We follow the trends in the world of fashion, which are set by the most famous fashion houses. And then we try to replicate or apply them in our products.
This is how the fashion world works and it’s similar to architecture – inspiration can be found everywhere in the surrounding environment, in history and from world-renowned creators.
Where now? Success story on Finmag:
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