Sam Kershaw, Mr Porter’s Buying Director, joined the online retail destination for men’s style in 2012 as a Buyer for accessories and grooming. In his current role, he leads the buying and merchandising teams and oversees all elements of Mr Porter’s product offering, as well as its own label Mr. P. Before, he was International Designer and Contemporary Buyer at Harvey Nichols.

We spoke to Sam about the state of menswear as well as Mr Porter Futures, the new 12-month global designer mentorship program for undiscovered talent, which will guide three selected applicants through process of designing, manufacturing and delivering responsibly sourced and produced collections, launching exclusively on Mr Porter.

What inspired Mr. Porter to launch Mr. Porter Futures now?

You know, the idea behind Mr Porter Futures came about as we began to reflect on our 10th anniversary as a business and as we considered the duties, responsibilities, and opportunities we had as a brand, and as we start this next, new decade. With this “look back to look forward” mindset, we were intent on creating a program that both celebrates and is inspired by our global audience, is as expansive and inclusive as possible from an eligibility perspective, and has greater aims to make the luxury fashion industry more accessible to all. With Mr Porter Futures, we’re championing fresh voices and original ideas solely, and we will be reviewing applicants anonymously and based on their submitted design briefs. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been formally trained or not – we’re looking for raw talent and a fresh perspective with the potential to be developed into a sustainable capsule collection for Mr Porter. In the end, we hope to be discovering new talent, from outside of the traditional industry wheelhouse, and to give three designers (or duos) the tools and the tutelage to develop their own standalone collections and have a better understanding of building a business and navigating next steps in their careers.

What differentiates this talent search from others?

Drawing on our own special strengths as a brand – including our in-house design capabilities and our meaningful community of brands and contributors as mentors – Mr Porter is the only global men’s retailer that has such a rich platform from both an awareness and a storytelling perspective. These three designers (or duos) will be introduced into the Mr Porter fold, and we will be supporting them in the ideation and execution of their own collections, while taking them through the “go to market” strategy development of their collections through to launch in September 2022. In tandem, we will be providing these designers with bespoke business mentorship workshops and 1:1 consultation with industry mentors to help shepherd both process and perspective every step of the way. There aren’t many businesses that have the opportunity to offer such soup-to-nuts experience and exposure.

How would you describe the current state of menswear?

As we return to a sense of normalcy with the emergence of a post-pandemic world, we’re witnessing a shift in customer habits to prioritize well-made things, with longevity, quality, and functionality top of mind. Our customers are investing in more dependable, evergreen items, and in menswear that have unique and original stories behind them. We expect this value shift, and a demand for greater values tied to products and brands, to only increase. Customers want to know how or why something is made. The menswear market is also in the midst of a growth spurt – it has been for the last 10 years – and its offering is as exciting, relevant and responsive to the style zeitgeist as womenswear is. It’s also a viable business. In recent years we’ve witnessed brands like The Row and Celine, with the launch of Celine Homme, introduce men’s lines, both available on Mr Porter. There’s also a new generation of menswear creatives who bring their unique worldview into their collections, while also finding an engaged and global audience, no matter where they are situated. Take for instance two of our mentors, Reese Cooper and Nicholas Daley. Both of their brands have a unique take on menswear, inspired by and rooted in their lived experience. There is real perspective and value in the collections they create season on season. Additionally, tried, true, and timeless designs will always hold a special place in menswear – quality over quantity always proves enduring.

Where do you see a void in the menswear?

I think we have a real opportunity and an urgency to make the industry more inclusive. In the lead-up to our 10th anniversary, we reflected on voids we could attempt to fill in the market and realized we had the opportunity and responsibility to create a designer mentorship program of our own, rooted in Mr Porter’s DNA and supported by our global community. Mr Porter Futures was also informed and inspired by four guiding principles that we defined for our 10th anniversary: discovery, inclusivity, craftsmanship and community. These are our North, South, East, and West stars in the program’s development and execution.

What’s your hope for Mr. Porter Futures— what do you want it to bring to the global menswear scene?

At Mr Porter, we’re committed to providing a platform that showcases and celebrates well-made menswear and adjacent lifestyle products and categories from all over the world. While we’re proud to stock some of the world’s best-known designer labels, Mr Porter has always been a place of discovery. This means that our buyers are always looking beyond established brands and outside of the global fashion capitals to source and deliver unique perspectives on men’s style to our global audience. The aim of Mr Porter Futures is to provide an opportunity for those perspectives outside of the fashion mainstream by drawing upon Mr Porter’s internal infrastructure and our global community to create a truly unique, one-of-a kind program that we hope will resonate with new and existing audiences alike.