The people behind Essentiel Antwerp
Esfan
Essentiel Antwerp’s heritage is partially rooted in the childhood of French/Iranian/Belgian co-owner Esfan Eghtessadi. As the son of designer Nicole Cadine, he grew up in the world of textile and fashion. Antwerp-based but always with the goal of building a global business, we had a talk with Esfan to hear more about the brand, how he looks back at the last 23 years and how he sees the future for Essentiel Antwerp.
Can you (quickly) walk us through the last 23 years of the brand?
Esfan — To start, I just can't believe it's already been 23 years, it’s incredible, time flies! It was and still is a big pleasure to step into the Essentiel Antwerp HQ every day. It’s such an adventure, even as an established brand, we're still on a learning curve, growing every step of the way and always on the lookout for the next move.
Looking back to my personal growth, I feel like I’ve finally understood how to manage this company. To be honest, when we started, I was so focused on the product that I didn’t think of building a global brand. As the company grew, I grew along with it and now it’s my main mission to steer the business. Every day, it makes me proud to see all these people around us, so dedicated and passionate, it gives me so much energy.
You've co-founded the company with Inge Onsea, how do you work with/next to each other?
Esfan — Essentiel Antwerp is more than a job, it’s our life. We have a total devotion to the brand in common. Inge and I co-founded the brand but she’s way more than a partner, she’s my family. When we started, it was just us and our colorful T-shirts, ready to attack the fashion world together.
Inge has this twinkle in her eyes, a desire to do new things and that’s something we share. Even after all this time, we still have the same ambition, the continuous desire for growth, while always trying to stay true to ourselves. We’re currently running the business together but apart, with each our own responsibilities. When we started, we were both focused on the collection but over the years we had to split ways to stay focused. Inge is creating the collections and running the styling department, while I take care of the business development and the strategic vision of the company.
How does a typical day at work look like for the CEO of this company?
Esfan — Although my path at Essentiel Antwerp took me to the strategic direction of the brand, there’s one aspect where I can still let my creativity flow to the max: our physical stores. Deciding where we want to be next, hunting for the right location, creating the concept of the store going from colors and materials to the interior decoration. Besides having business opportunities on my radar at all times, I also try to have an overview of each department every day. I strive to find solutions with the teams to make everyone feel aligned with the ambitions of the brand.
If you could go back in time, let's say 20 years, what advice would you give to your younger self?
Esfan — My advice would be to be well surrounded by the right people you can learn from and can guide you. As this has always been the case for us, I’m happy to say I can look back with no specific regrets.
We always aimed to be international, we always dreamt big, but to be able to do that and to reach those ambitious goals, you need the right people. We’re a very tight family and people are extremely invested.
If you need to pick out your proudest moment at Essentiel Antwerp, what would it be?
Esfan — I have many, many proud moments. But of course, if I would need to pick one, it must be our first fair in Paris. We never expected the success, but it was then and there that I first realized we were onto something.
Another proud moment was the opening of our first flagship store in August 2002, here in Antwerp. There are just too many ‘firsts’ I would need to choose from. There are still a lot of adventures that happen for the first time, and we still get excited by them.
At the end of the day, it all comes back to the core of our business: the product. We’ve always been true to ourselves, without any pretention. It is that feeling of authenticity that also guides us in the way we do business, in the way we design our products. We create collections for people who identify themselves with our brand, and who see it as an extension of who they are.
What makes Essentiel Antwerp so successful?
Esfan — From the beginning we were an agile company with a strong product focus and a global mindset. We were never limited to one market or style. We thrive of newness and we often requestion ourselves. I believe we have something unique and found a sweet spot in the affordable luxury segment. From the start we aimed cross borders and having that mindset from the beginning, opened a lot of doors for us.
What are the main challenges in the fashion industry at the moment?
Esfan — Existing for 23 years is already a challenge on its own. Fashion is as beautiful as it is complicated. You need to stay appealing, stay ahead of the curve. Your best collection, should be your next collection. Every season, we just try to improve on the last one. We are never fully satisfied and take nothing for granted, I think that's why we’ve been around for 23 years.
“Basically every day I’m thinking of what’s next. Status quo is something that simply does not exist at Essentiel Antwerp.”
What's next for Essentiel Antwerp?
Esfan — The growth of Essentiel Antwerp lies in the global expansion. We see a lot of potential and opportunities in the US market at the moment. We’ve been present in the market via wholesale distribution but now we’re looking into attacking the market ourselves. Maybe even opening a store in New York? We will also continue to strengthen our stores, as I still strongly believe in the physical aspect of fashion and the need to experience our brand in real life. However, this will only be strengthened by our online presence and we’re fully embracing the digital transformation. One can no longer go without the other.
We need to stay ahead and are now even accelerating this digitalization by experimenting with new business models, such as marketplaces. We feel there is a big shift in the industry towards these models that allow a qualitative representation of our brand and image.
Basically every day I’m thinking of what’s next. Status quo is something that simply does not exist at Essentiel Antwerp.
