Karl Templer Takes on Wider Role at Ports
LONDON — Karl Templer, who created new buzz around the Ports 1961 label with help from Steven Meisel and Fabien Baron, has been promoted and will oversee the image of all brands in the wider Ports portfolio.
Ports said it was promoting Templer to group art adviser as part of a “strategic business refocus,” that’s aimed at aligning the portfolio’s labels more closely. In addition to Ports 1961, those labels are Ports Pure and Ports International. The latter two sell mainly in China.
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Templer will continue to serve as art director for the Ports 1961 campaign and look book shoots, and he will still collaborate with Meisel and Baron. Templer will also work with the Ports 1961 in-house design team, although he’ll no longer be directly involved in the seasonal collections or collaborations.
Ports said that Templer’s “creative viewpoint and vision are unmatched. Ports is thrilled to have his unique eye across the full portfolio of collections, delivering a newly aligned, cohesive and fresh point of view across all brands that will help drive and support the future ambitions for Ports.”
It is understood that Ports’ parent company, the Hong Kong-based PCD Group, wants to intensify its efforts in the China market where it does the bulk of its business.
Templer joined Ports 1961 in 2019 and worked closely with Baron on rebooting the image of the brand.
Templer led the fashion side, while Baron worked on visual identity. Templer made his Ports 1961 debut at London Fashion Week in September 2019 with a fresher — and fuller — women’s offering that included shoes and accessories.
Over the past three years, Templer has helped to give the brand a younger, more playful — and colorful — edge with collections that have recently been shown during Milan Fashion Week.
On Templer’s watch, the company redesigned the flagship at 251 Bis Rue Saint-Honoré with a new concept conceived by Italian architect Enrica Pinna.
Templer also redesigned the Ports 1961 packaging; launched a sustainably sourced white shirt collection in partnership with Tonne Goodman, and capsule denim collections with R13.
Ports 1961 was founded by the Canadian entrepreneur Luke Tanabe and was originally inspired by travel. It later expanded into a luxury womenswear label. The parent company is Ports International Enterprises Ltd., which is based in Hong Kong, and owned by PCD Group.
