5 Things You Need To Know About Mulberry’s New Designer, Johnny Coca

Here's your first look at the new Mulberry collection...

He’s fashion’s man of the moment and as he gets set to shake up Mulberry with his debut London Fashion Week show, all eyes will be on new creative director, Johnny Coca.

Here’s your need-to-know on the man who’s about to become the industry’s new favourite character, plus a first look at his new collection for the brand…

Johnny Coca’s Work Uniform Is A Kilt And DMs So he’s a little, shall we say, edgier than the Mulberry country dwellers of yore. Yes Spaniard Johnny’s about to shake things up big time at the English heritage house, injecting his cool into both the ready-to-wear and accessories lines. From his big personality to his trademark hoop earrings, we hope he’ll be the blast of fresh air the label’s looking for.

His Career Trajectory Has Been Pretty Outstanding Johnny’s first fashion job was designing window displays for Louis Vuitton stores for extra cash. As you do. When the design team saw some of his sketches, which included a fair few drawings of bags, they offered him a job. Next came roles with the ultimate American trio - Tom Ford, Marc Jacobs and Michael Kors, before he took the role of head of accessories for Celine.

He’s Changed The Mulberry Logo We’ve seen a few new designers do this with our beloved household names in the past (we’re looking at you, Hedi Slimane) and it’s a tactic that’s often met with mixed reviews from fans. But Johnny’s not invented some new scribble for Mulberry, he’s dug deep into the archives and is actually reinstating an original font the brand used in the Seventies. Clever.

And Here’s Your First Preview Of His Debut Collection… The veil is lifted! Behold your first peek at the new-look Mulberry. And what can we deduce from this snippet of a snippet? Some cool, asymmetric cutting, edgy boots and a classic white shirt. ‘It’s quite humbling — to be trusted with this brand that people love and feel is very much part of them and their lives,’ he says ‘In my role as creative director, I want to push the boundaries, but also respect the values and DNA at the core of Mulberry.”

His First Full Show Is On Sunday. Watch it live, on 21st February at 4pm and, in the mean time, check out his introductory ‘making of’ video below. Will he bring Mulberry back to its best? No pressure, Johnny.