UK/USA. Electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft infrastructure pioneer Urban-Air Port recently announced a series of new partnerships with high-profile retail and food & beverage brands. Together, they aim to deliver “the travel retail experience of the future” at the world’s first hub for flying taxis and delivery drones – the vertiport Air One – which will open in the UK city of Coventry next month.
The Moodie Davitt Report Senior Business Editor Mark Lane caught up with Kate Boyer, CEO of one of those partners, Anatomie, to discover why she sees a connection with the urban air mobility industry as a perfect fit for her fast-growing fashion brand.
Speaking from Anatomie’s Miami headquarters, the ebullient Boyer is full of praise for Urban-Air Port, its concepts and its people. She is bursting with passion for the new age of travel and entertainingly explains why she is fully committed to Anatomie coming along for the ride.
Kate Boyer, CEO of global athleisure fashion hybrid brand Anatomie, is well-known for spotting a business opportunity where others might hesitate. When she read about electric takeoff and landing (eVTOL) infrastructure pioneer Urban-Air Port (UAP), its vision for the future and the opportunities it can bring to retail brands, she was quick to seal an agreement to become one of its first official supporters.
Miami-headquartered Anatomie manufactures luxury products which have become a popular choice among travellers, with apparel made exclusively from stretch and performance fabrics. Their lightweight nature and small spatial requirement enable an extensive amount of clothing to be packed within a small bag or cabin case, obviating the need for checked cases and for dry-cleaning and ironing while travelling.
Manufacturing is generally carried out close to markets where goods are sold and all products come with a lifetime warranty. Such factors have boosted Anatomie’s ‘slow fashion’ environmental credentials.
Eco-friendly traits grabbed the attention of Boyer – who founded Anatomie with her husband Shawn in 2006 – when she read on The Moodie Davitt Report about UAP’s first major project and its plans to connect with brands. The project will attract worldwide attention when the company launches Air One, the world’s first fully-operational hub for eVTOL aircraft (including electric air taxis), and cargo drones in Coventry, UK next month.
As a pioneer in the urban air mobility (UAM) industry, UAP is helping to enable a new age of travel which will facilitate zero emission transport and ease the pressure of traffic congestion in major cities.
“I feel like core values have to be aligned when you create a partnership, personally and professionally,” says Boyer, who made direct contact with UAP’s Chief Retail Officer Keith Hunter to set the ball rolling for the partnership. “And we have that going on with all of the clever people at Urban-Air Port. I cannot be more excited about our link up and I can’t think of a better fit for them either as an apparel choice.”
“I think every good brand has to have a mission and a purpose. And when you team up with people that feel the same way about what they do, you can work together to take everything to the next level. There may be sceptics in the short term, but I don’t care, for me it’s all about the long term.”
She adds: “They are working on the infrastructure to enable light, quick, eco-friendly transportation. That is a great match for what we do as a brand. Our core values are so well aligned with UAP – we are completely on the same page about the future of travel and the modern retail that goes with it.”
Boyer and Anatomie were already closely involved with another revolutionary aviation business in the form of US private jet company VeriJet. “One of our investors and business partners co-founded VeriJet,” explains Boyer. “VeriJet is a pioneer in ultra-lightweight, short distance and carbon-efficient travel, operating light carbon fibre planes.
“We have supplied clothing to their pilots and are involved in other ways with the business, such as sponsoring their visual assets and marketing campaigns. So that was my first foot forward [in the aviation space]. I have learned a lot from them.”
As with VeriJet, Boyer says she made an “instant connection” with UAP. “What I noticed straight away is that they are very, very forward thinking. In the same way that we at Anatomie have pioneered athleisure and the whitespace in a category that didn’t exist before, they are pioneering a whitespace in their industry.
“And when you first set out on that kind of path you get all the criticism, everybody thinks you’re crazy; it’s too hard to find investors until you get what I call ‘co-dreamers’. I think we’re connected in our heads, because it’s such an instant connection to innovation, to open-mindedness, to change and doing things differently. And not everybody is like that, unfortunately there’s still a lot of old school thinking out there.
“Somebody has to inspire and empower the next generation in every industry, and I think that is what UAP and Anatomie are doing in their different ways. I think every good brand has to have a mission and a purpose. And when you team up with people that feel the same way about what they do, you can work together to take everything to the next level. There may be sceptics in the short term, but I don’t care, for me it’s all about the long term.”
Anatomie will be making a “substantial investment” to be an official sponsor and supporting brand at UAP’s Air One launch event, according to Boyer. A display of Anatomie clothing, specially-created for the vertiport’s retail area, will be a highlight.
The brand is also creating a bespoke Anatomie jacket for the hundreds of VIP guests expected to attend the Air One launch event, with Anatomie standing the cost for design, manufacture and shipping of the clothing. “We are creating this from scratch,” says Boyer, who will also be covering the costs to fly some of Anatomie’s business partners to the event. “It’s a really cool waterproof bomber jacket with the Urban-Air Port logo and British flag.”
“Not everything can always be about profits. We are a private company, I don’t report to Wall Street yet, you know. Sometimes you have to look beyond the balance sheet.”
Boyer says she hopes to extend the relationship with UAP amid its ambitious programme to create 200 vertiports across the world. UAP’s expansion is underpinned by investment from its partner Supernal, the eVTOL division of Hyundai which is currently developing a family of air taxis.
“We are hoping to be a permanent worldwide, consistent partner and be present with UAP at every location, every shape or form that they do,” she explains. “If they go smaller, I can go smaller, if they go bigger, we are ready to go bigger. It’s all about growth and opportunities. I would like to be there for the long term as the go-to solution for the fashion components associated with the eVTOL industry.”
Boyer acknowledges that there is a long road ahead for the air taxi and vertiport industry to achieve commercialisation at scale, with many hurdles and risks to overcome. “It might take longer to get off the ground than it ought to for political and economic reasons. With all the certification issues surrounding the aircraft for example, governments and aviation authorities will probably slow things down. For me, given its environmental credentials, this industry is a no-brainer for progress and hopefully the authorities will embrace it.
“So we as a brand are prepared to go with the flow. This is partly about the next generation – we’re on this planet to make things better for our children. I have a seven-year-old daughter, I hope she will benefit from this industry no matter what.”
Is Boyer concerned at the level of investment required in the fledgling UAM industry before she will see any meaningful returns? “Not everything can always be about profits,” she responds. “We are a private company, I don’t report to Wall Street yet, you know. Sometimes you have to look beyond the balance sheet.”
Financially, Anatomie is on a roll. Revenue was up +70% in 2021 and Boyer projects further exponential growth through to 2025.
The company has been unafraid to invest in physical retail during the pandemic, while other fashion brands have closed thousands of stores.
“We are moving into a lot of vacated and new retail spaces in the High Street and in cruise – with Harding Retail and Starboard – and now airport retail, plus private clubs, resorts, hotels, spas and golf shops,” says Boyer. “Designer brands are pulling out of the malls and the airports, so I have been taking advantage of that and will continue to do so.”
Anatomie is building its airport shopping footprint with Lagardère Travel Retail. An Anatomie shop-in-shop has opened at Rome Fiumicino with standalone stores to come at Venice Marco Polo (550sq ft) and Palermo (450sq ft) airports. “We found a good partnership with Lagardère and I love the people I am dealing with there,” says Boyer, who unsurprisingly believes that airport retail is a natural home for Anatomie. “They are so professional and do things in style.”
Boyer underlines her love for the power of travel and what it means to her brand by concluding: “I truly believe that when the world is connected and people get along, they speak each other’s languages and try their food, clothes and culture, the world becomes a more peaceful place.
“The whole thing that’s going on right now [in Ukraine] is making me sick to my stomach. I still believe that the travel industry has the power to change the world in a very positive way. I’m very passionate about it.”
Air One will be open to the public for demonstrations at the launch event between 28 April-15 May. You can book here to take a first-hand look at the infrastructure and eVTOL aircraft behind the new age of travel.
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