We spoke to Thierry Tek about hanging out at Paris Fashion Week with Louis Vuitton, his brand Beautifully Said, and where the label is going next.
Bailey Alexander: So Thierry, you’re a designer that is going from strength to strength with your brand Beautifully Said, but where did all of this start for you?
Thierry Tek: I’ve been a creative person since a young age. I was always interested in drawing, music, dancing – all that kind of stuff. But I actually started my professional career in banking a decade ago. I learnt a lot about small businesses, bigger businesses, strategies, and how they were all investing in marketing.
BA: When did you make the leap to fashion?
TT: About eight years ago, I started my own creative agency called Visionarism, and that started because I’d found an interest in photography. I got a camera and started shooting at events for friends around the time when Instagram started. There were loads of brand events in London and I was shooting everyone I could until I started getting jobs and, when I did, that’s when I registered myself as a business, started my own agency, and started hiring freelancers as I was getting more jobs than I could do myself. I think I needed something more and, as a kid, I’d always been into streetwear and trainers, and always wanted to have my own clothing brand. That was something that was always at the back of my head.
BA: So what’s Beautifully Said’s M.O.?
TT: A few years ago I decided on the theme I wanted to go with for the brand. Design-wise, it’s inspired by combat sports and martial arts – mainly Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. The storytelling theme behind the brand is really who I am. I’m French, so I’ve always been inspired by love and romance – every stereotype you think of when you think about Paris and Parisians. The main message though is all about self-love, inner beauty, and self-belief – it’s who you are inside that counts – so your first love should be yourself.
BA: So do you think the stereotype that French people are stylish has truth to it?
TT: Everybody’s style and body is different. So, you can wear the same thing as someone else, but look completely different to them. I wouldn’t necessarily say we French are more stylish, but I think that image comes from Paris being the capital of fashion, and obviously having the biggest fashion week in the world.
BA: I actually saw you were over there for Paris Fashion Week with Louis Vuitton. Was it fulfilling to be with people who appreciate fashion just as much as you?
TT: The venues that Louis Vuitton pick are always crazy – the people attending are obviously of a different type of calibre than you would usually see, and I managed to connect with quite a lot of them. You have all the celebrities in the world there: athletes, artists, musicians. But the beauty of it is that no matter what you do or how famous you are, when you’re there, you’re just a true lover of the brand. One of my highlights was that I managed to speak to Pharrell after the show.
BA: Who have been your fashion influences?
I get that question a lot, but if you look at what I design it doesn’t really look like anyone else’s work, and that’s what I want – something that is unique to myself. So, I’m inspired by a lot of people, but maybe not in their clothes or the way they design or dress. For example, Pharrell is a huge inspiration to me musically and lifestyle-wise, and I watch a lot of his interviews because of how he sees life and fashion, music, and the culture in general. That’s what inspires me – there’s a level of comfort and cosiness to what he does that inspires me to do my own thing.
BA: What about your own personal style? What kind of brands and styles do you lean towards?
TT: It’s hard to say. I feel I’m not too eccentric and dress in a pretty casual way, but that’s not what people say about me. They say I take risks with certain colours and shapes, and I’m just now realising that maybe my style isn’t that casual at all. For me, it’s about feeling really comfortable and good in myself and not about people thinking I’m cool. That’s what I’m doing with Beautifully Said as well – I want people to feel comfortable and confident in their own skin.
BA: You’ve definitely got your fingers in different pies, and I saw that you had Luke Evans wearing Beautifully Said for GQ. What was that like?
TT: That was really cool and obviously he’s one of my favourite actors and someone I consider to have a beautiful soul. Having my fingers in different pies in the creative industry is how I like to learn different things. So, I co-own a company called WMI, We Made It, and we do production for magazine covers and casting of talents, and on one of our latest projects for GQ South Africa, we had the opportunity to get Luke Evans. We had a lot of help from the photographer, Luis Monteiro, who had a strong input in getting Luke. Our stylist, Steven Doan, pulled from great brands like Sacai, Valentino and Dolce & Gabbana, so it was an honour to place Beautifully Said on Luke with our Burning Rose Jacket.
BA: Was this the first time that Beautifully Said had been in a magazine as big as GQ?
TT: Beautifully Said was in the British GQ styling category with some of the brand’s best selling items at the end of 2023, but the shoot with Luke was the biggest opportunity I’d had to show my brand. I think having the brand for just over a year and being lucky enough to be offered these kinds of opportunities is amazing. I’m really grateful for it.
BA: Has Beautifully Said’s success been beyond what you expected?
When I launched it in early 2023, I didn’t really tell anyone that it was me behind it. But after two weeks, I started to associate it with myself and that’s when the response started to be really good. Obviously, 75% of the first sales were coming from friends and people who understood me and the storytelling behind the brand. Then, after a few months, we started to get a little bit of media coverage and I started seeing my clothes on the street. My logo is a rose, so it’s quite easy to identify. I had a conversation with a friend and he asked what the aim was with the brand. Obviously, making sales and finding longevity are important, but in my mind I want to reach a point where the brand could represent a symbol , a mindset – so that when anyone sees the rose on clothing, they know it’s us.
BA: Speaking of opportunities, I was wondering if you could tell us a bit about wholesaling out in the Middle East?
TT: Two weeks after I launched the brand on Valentine’s Day 2023, the buyer of one of the biggest retail groups in the Middle East got in touch about getting Beautifully Said stocked on their platforms. After a few conversations, their first delivery landed around June 2023, and it’s been an eye opener for me as I didn’t know the brand would work so well in the Middle East. Starting wholesale was a great push for the brand.
BA: So what’s next in the pipeline for the brand?
TT: Right now, I’m focusing on the brand’s image. From the first to second collection, there was a big transition in terms of positioning. I wanted something that was streetwear/menswear/casual but positioned and elevated to be more sophisticated. Some of the designs, materials, and details are a lot more niche. Beyond that, getting more retailers and just growing the community around the brand are important, and I’ve been involved in conversations with people who are interested in investing in Beautifully Said, so we’ll see where time takes us.
Check out Beautifully Said’s full collection here.