The Creative Londoners

What drew you to London?

Niklas: We grew up in a small town just outside Stockholm and came to London in 2009 and 2010 to study. We decided to stay in London and start the business as we liked how international the city is. Our social circle reflects this and our friends are English, Swedish, German, French and our flatmate is Slovakian.

For a luxury accessory label, Oppermann is slightly unusual as you sell your products directly to the customer, rather than through shops. What is the thinking behind this?

Mattis: We initially started out selling our products using the standard model of selling wholesale to the shops. We then changed our business model as we felt that as a young brand we really wanted contact and feedback with from the customer. We also wanted to avoid the large mark-ups that the shops add. By cutting out the middle-man we can sell our bags and wallets for twice the cost of production, instead of eight times the cost as you find with shops. We keep everything very high-end so all our materials are sourced from Italy and the bags are also Italian made, using two small family owned factories.

What do you like about working in the Clerkenwell area?

Niklas:  It is slightly off the tourist map and has lots of great restaurants and beautiful old buildings. It has a good mixture of small craft companies and then a stone’s throw away you have brands such as Ben Sherman and Alexander McQueen. There are also a lot of tech start-ups, architects, jewellery makers and photographers around here - it’s very interesting and creative. We looked at studios in Hackney Wick, near where we live, but it is mostly artists and painters there. We do spend time in the Hackney at the weekend though - London Fields, Columbia Flower Market and Broadway Market are places we would recommend in the area.

What would you change about London?

Niklas: It would be a cliché to say the weather! I actually think that the weather in London is not as bad as everyone says.

Where else would you recommend visiting in London?

Mattis: The Tate Modern gallery on the Southbank. 
Niklas: The auction houses in London are also really interesting to visit – Criterion Auction house on Essex Road is not too expensive and has a lot of very traditional English stuff. The high-end auction houses such as Christie’s have exhibitions that are open to the public - it is not really something that tourists really think of doing, but it is really interesting. 

Where is the best place for a casual meal in London?

Mattis: Granger & Co in Clerkenwell is a restaurant just across the road from our studio that we use often. It’s bright and not too loud. The coffee is great – but then again I think all coffee is great! 

Where is the best hotspot for lunch?

Mattis: The Modern Pantry is set in a beautiful cobbled square in Clerkenwell and is a good place to eat outside. They also have a hatch at the side of the restaurant where you can get a take-out lunch for a reasonable cost.

Where should coffee-lovers flock to in London?

Niklas: Exmouth Market in Clerkenwell is a really nice place to hang out and grab a coffee. Briki is a casual cafe on the corner of the street and they do super nice croissants. It’s nice to have a whole street that almost entirely made of independent businesses, especially as we independents ourselves.

Any other suggestions?

Mattis: The Library Members Club in Covent Garden. We’ve actually started collaborating with them as the owner is an Oppermann customer who liked our brand and wanted us to work together. We met with him and explained that one of the challenges that we encounter as an online business is that customers cannot hold our bags in their hands and smell the leather. So we set up a collaboration where our customers can sign up for a complimentary day pass for The Library through our website. They then get to visit The Library, which is a very nice setting, and have our collection of bags brought out to them.

You seem to be finding inventive ways to bridge the space between on and off-line.

Niklas: The overarching idea is to try to find ways that people can still see and feel the product before buying. It’s playing with the line between online and offline and how these things can be related. We’ve also use pop-up spaces and a while ago we tried an interesting concept in Old Street underground station. We rented a shop front and put our products in the window with QR codes that people could scan to find out more information on the bags. It was like an advertising billboard, but with a third dimension. We also had samples of the leather on the window, so you could touch the material.

When would you recommend visiting London?

Niklas; May is the best time to experience London as everyone is coming out of hibernation and wants to be outside – the city has a really uplifting energy to it.