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Although Estonia-born, London-based designer Johanna Parv had worked with leather before, she never thought the material could be used to create stretchy, breathable and protective (reflective) leather for urban cyclists. However, earlier this year while attending a workshop at Ecco’s Netherlands-based tannery, the creative was able to unlock this innovative new design. On Monday, the jackets will appear in her debut solo show at London Fashion Week.
“Often, the majority of brands do not own their manufacturing. As a result, they do not have the opportunity to express themselves fully,” explains Ecco CEO Panos Mytaros. “The purpose of engaging with them is to give an opportunity to the younger generation to experiment with what we’re good at, which is manufacturing.”
For the upcoming SS25 show season, Ecco has connected with global fashion education platform 1 Granary on an inaugural collaboration programme. The aim? Offer independent designers full access to Ecco’s in-house research and design teams and cutting-edge facilities, where they’ll get unbridled creative freedom to experiment with Ecco’s innovative material offering. The first cohort will also welcome emerging brands Knwls, Duran Lantink and Charlie Constantinou alongside Parv, as curated by 1 Granary CEO Olya Kuryshchuk. For Ecco, it’s part of a bid to redefine the 60-year-old label for a new generation via the cultural cachet of young designer names.
“You need to create a lot of energy as a brand to transform yourself to engage with younger consumers,” says Mytaros on its slew of back-to-back partnerships. “You can’t just be focused on financial return on investments. Generating new creative energy — externally and internally — is of the utmost importance.”
The designer collaborations follow a blockbuster Copenhagen Fashion Week for Ecco, which was founded in Denmark in 1963 by Birte and Karl Toosbuy. The brand revealed its second collaboration with Italian design agency Ral7000Studio, and celebrated with a dinner, workshop and panel at the Ecco studio, flying in influencers including The Flag Twins, Ines Silva, Sofia Coelho and Cjay Syre for the occasion. Ecco also showcased their ‘Sculpted’ collection in Danish designer Nicklas Skovgaard’s presentation, alongside supplying accessories for London-based label Sinéad O’Dwyer’s first Copenhagen show.
“Ecco is a Danish company, so obviously, Copenhagen is an important element. We like it because it’s a bit smaller and real relations can be established,” says Mytaros. The other cities they activate in are London, Paris and New York. This year, they also debuted for the first time at Milan and Seoul fashion weeks, showing their willingness to grow and evolve in the coming years.
Ecco gained international recognition back in the ’70s for its durable, comfortable footwear designs, particularly its ‘Joke’ moccasin-style model and its ‘Ecco Biom’ trainer series. However, over the noughties, the company’s relevancy waned among the younger generations, with other comfort-focused brands like Skechers, Birkenstock and Hush Puppies gaining traction. The boom in the trainer market throughout the 2010s, which saw brands such as Nike and Adidas dominate, further diminished their youth appeal.
Recently, Nike has been criticised for a lack of innovation, which is where Ecco is stepping in. These pioneering partnerships combine the artistic vision of leading creatives with Ecco’s innovation and technical know-how. For example, former creative director of Chloé Natacha Ramsay-Levi has now partnered on two trainer drops that utilise Ecco’s state-of-the-art Biom technology, with both collabs selling out fast. Still, there’s the risk of Ecco diluting its core identity by over-indexing on partnerships. Outside the collaboration offerings, Ecco doesn’t necessarily have a core silhouette or model — even one boosted by tie-ups, such as the Adidas Samba or the Puma Mostro.
Still, could opening the doors to their impressive manufacturing network help them claw back some cool? It’s certainly a formula that has so far worked for the brand. Since 2022, their design-led tannery Ecco Leather has invited creatives to design for its collaborative project, titled Ecco.Kollektive (formerly known as At.Kollektive). Now in its fifth season, the project has worked with British menswear designer Craig Green, Christa Bösch and Cosima Gadient, the duo behind Berlin-based womenswear line Ottolinger, and French menswear designer Louis Gabriel Nouchi.
Although many of the hyped collaborations have gone on to sell out, that’s not the only goal for Mytaros. “Yes, when you give younger designers space, then their ideas can develop into something commercial, but more importantly, they teach us a lot and open our minds to different ways of doing things,” the CEO says.
The importance of creative exchange
“What makes Ecco unique is that we are makers,” he explains, referencing the brand’s Ecco Leather tannery. Founded in 1985 as part of Ecco’s vertical integration strategy, it enables the company to oversee the entire supply chain from leather production to finished footwear. Having complete ownership of your supply chain is rare in today’s fashion landscape, yet it’s a huge draw for Gen Z who are particularly fascinated by how and where their clothes are made.
It’s a huge draw for designers, too. “Emerging independent brands, especially those with low minimum-quantity orders, often face significant challenges in accessing high-quality manufacturing and innovation opportunities,” explains 1 Granary founder and editor-in-chief Olya Kuryshchuk. “As a result, these brands are rarely prioritised by the factories, and the possibility of experimentation is typically ruled out due to the high costs and absence of large-scale follow-up orders,” she adds.
Through programmes like this, designers can gain invaluable insight into correct production methods while accessing innovative materials and technologies to enact their boldest fantasies. “It has definitely grown my interest in leather,” says designer Parv, who visited the Ecco factories earlier this summer. “Manufacturing leather is very time-consuming — anything made of leather is a luxury in my opinion,” she continues, referencing the cyclist-friendly leather that the programme enabled her to produce — something not done previously.
In exchange, Ecco are also introduced to new ideas. “Owning your own manufacturing is great, but you can fall into a trap where you keep doing the same thing,” says Mytaros. By collaborating with emerging designers, Ecco has found that they too unlock valuable different perspectives. “It’s like sending our staff for a week of creative retreat.”
How to maintain momentum
For Mytaros, the most important thing is that Ecco remains consistent by repeating these partnerships and nurturing the relationships they’ve already built with previous collaborators. “We are still a family-run business, and we like to cultivate that culture with all our employees and the designers that join us,” he says.
It means they have to be very careful and clear when choosing potential collaborators. Take the recent partnership with 1 Granary. “It wasn’t a commercial decision, it came from a purely creative standpoint of this feels good, so why not make it real?” says Mytaros, who notes that he first met Kuryshchuk when she visited their Netherlands Ecco Leather studio three years ago.
They also know exactly what they’re looking for when it comes to choosing designers. “They have to have a passion for material. It’s not just aesthetics. Do you want to really be part of the process?” Mytaros asks, stressing that social media followings are not a factor when selecting either.
“A key red flag for us is when companies prioritise a designer’s social media following over the quality of their work. These collaborations often feel shallow and fail to make a lasting impact,” agrees Kuryshchuk. “In contrast, Ecco Leather has always focused on the substance of the designer’s vision and creativity first. They supported us in selecting designers with a strong creative identity and the ability to bring fresh, innovative ideas, resulting in deeper, more meaningful long-term partnerships.”
Above all it’s about entering these partnerships with good intentions and an open heart, says Mytaros. “I always say, ‘The process will show us the way.’ It’s slightly unconventional and scary for some because you don’t know where it will take you. But so far I’ve found we always arrive somewhere authentic, innovative and meaningful.”
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