‘We're all immigrants’: Jigsaw CEO Peter Ruis on how his viral campaign was inspired by Brexit

Brexit felt personal for Jigsaw CEO Peter Ruis, who channelled his shock into a bold campaign celebrating diversity. As his message goes viral, he talks fashion and politics with Laura Craik
Suits you: Peter Ruis joined Jigsaw in 2013 and has steered the brand to health
Daniel Hambury
Laura Craik26 October 2017

As advertising campaigns go, it’s fair to say that Jigsaw’s latest does not belong to the trusty, tried and tested genre of Model Posing Laconically With Handbag. That it features a multi-racial cast of models is positive, if not unique: this season, more than ever, the fashion industry seems finally to be getting #woke to the issue of diversity.

What really makes the campaign a talking point is its punch-packing text. “As a clothing brand, we couldn’t do what we do if people weren’t free to move around. Without immigration, we’d be selling potato sacks. We need beautiful minds from around the world. Fear, isolation and intolerance will hold us back. Love, openness and collaboration will take us forward.”

The campaign is titled Jigsaw Loves Immigration: that it has eschewed a fashion statement in favour of a political statement speaks volumes about Jigsaw as a brand, and also about its CEO, Peter Ruis.

Ruis is not a man to mince his words. Since Jigsaw is a privately owned company, nor does he have to. Provided founder John Robinson is happy, that’s all that matters.

And you can bet that Robinson is beaming: since joining Jigsaw from John Lewis in 2013, Ruis has steered what was once an ailing brand into rude health again. The clothes are on point and being worn by all the right people (not least the Duchess of Cambridge, who worked as one of Jigsaw’s accessories buyers in 2006).

Six new stores opened last year, including its 32nd London store, in King’s Cross. In the financial year ending October 2016, turnover increased by eight per cent to reach £95 million, or £112 million inclusive of sales tax. EBITDA grew 11 per cent to £6.2 million.

Ask Ruis why the new campaign has immigration as its theme, and you receive an impassioned reply.

“We’ve always tried to talk about our values, because it feels like the right thing to do, rather than just [doing] pretty girls and pretty dresses,” he says.

“It’s been pretty tricky year. We were certainly depressed about what it meant — obviously from a business point of view, but it’s broader than just Brexit/Trump — it’s also about the Britain that we’ve all loved being a part of. It felt like some of the values were being lost.

Jigsaw's AW17 campaign

“The word ‘immigration’ has become a horrible word, when all it means is people coming to live or work in another country. Immigration is the basis of Britain, and why Britain is such a wonderful nation.”

Founded in 1970, Jigsaw is a proudly British brand. “I hate defining Britishness,” says Ruis. “It’s impossible to define. You can define it as the fabrics we buy, the factories we work with — all of whom are in difficult straits because of what is going on politically — or you can define it by the people who work for us.

“Thirty per cent of our workforce don’t have British passports. I’ve got two passports — I’m Italian and English. Our owner was born in Singapore. Which is why we wanted to get away from this binary idea of immigration. Everyone in Britain — leave voters, remain voters, whatever you stand for — should value people.

“Let’s understand that whether it was 1,000 years ago or 10, we’re all immigrants.”

Off-record, Ruis details some of the racism encountered by Jigsaw’s employees in the wake of the Brexit vote, both from customers in stores and from people in the street. “In the current climate, we felt it was wrong to just go ‘Here’s a new range from Jigsaw’,” he explains.

“Within retail, we’re the second biggest employer in Britain, and we obviously employ a lot of people from around the world.”

Judging by its HQ, an idyllic, sprawling building in bucolic Kew, Jigsaw is a more caring company to work for than most, with a gym and personal trainer on site. As I arrive, the air is heavy with the scent of curry.

“Someone’s ordered takeaway,” I say to the receptionist, who explains that actually, staff are cooked lunch every day by an in-house chef. But it’s not just their stomachs that are looked after: every employee is also given shares in the business after a year’s service, and is paid an annual dividend. It sure beats a zero-hours contract.

“We made around £6 million worth of profit last year, and we spent £4.5 million on new shops,” says Ruis. “We give the dividend to the people within the business, and we reinvest in stock for the future. It’s all about the people who are part of the Jigsaw family.”

Ask Ruis what has changed post-Brexit and he simply says: “Everything. With currency 20-25 per cent worse, it runs all the way through to your bottom line. You can’t pass it on to your suppliers. You can’t tell your customers to pay 20-25 per cent more. So yes, it affects the way we work with everything, and we have to restructure our costs.

“I’ve been in retail since 1989, and this is the biggest issue I’ve ever seen. Britain was a growing economy; it’s now a declining economy. We have a pound that’s collapsing.”

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But if Brexit’s effect on business has been catastrophic, he worries just as much about its cultural effects. “This is about our British values, our next generation and our young people, but it’s hard to explain to your kids,” he says, speaking as a father of three. “It’s about the future, and we should all be looking to the future.

“I’m a history graduate. The Second World War wasn’t that long ago. The alliances we have are built on trade and shared understanding. Those are apolitical things, but they’re really important.”

AW17 must-wear trends

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The high street has changed hugely since Jigsaw first launched, not least because, where once it had the more luxurious end of the middle market to itself, it now has fierce competition from other British brands such as Whistles and Hobbs, not to mention a plethora of international brands such as Sandro, J Crew and Cos.

Ruis says he is “proud to be on the high street because we’re not snobby, but we don’t like to be called a high street brand.” What Jigsaw seeks to do is bridge the gap between the cheaper, less ethical end of the high street and the world of high-end designer labels.

“Designer fashion is now the price of a small motor car,” he notes. “It’s really just for the super-rich, whereas when I was 20, I could save up for Paul Smith. Or Galliano — you would queue outside Browns and buy it in the sale for £200-£300. Now, it’s £2,000. Even Prada in the early Nineties was about £300 for a bag. That’s gone. We want to offer that type of quality.”

Prices start at £25 for a T-shirt, rising to £350 for a coat, with the most luxurious items from its premium A by Jigsaw range (now in its fifth season) rising further to £1,000.

Everything is designed in-house, with particular care given to the sourcing and quality of fabrics. “We don’t copy anything,” Ruis emphasises.

“We want to offer that integrity and that sense of art in clothes, at a price that is not out there. Those are our values.”

Those, and a deep-held belief that immigration is a positive, without which Britain would be a much poorer place.

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