“Building a high-end clothing brand with very little startup money has probably been the toughest challenge I have ever faced, but I enjoy every little success,” says Kasper Hyttel, co-founder and managing director of Danish fashion design house Thi Thao Copenhagen, and once a Stellenbosch University semester student.
“l founded the company in October 2012 with my wife, Vi Ramlov Hyttel, who is also the head designer,” Kasper says. “We met when we both worked at the same company. When she quit her job to start a position with another employer, I realised how much I would miss her, as we’d been working together so well and achieved great results. So, one evening we spoke for hours about how we could combine our skills and build something great together. We ended up as a couple, and a few years later, we started our very own fashion brand from scratch.”
The go-to for Danish power women
Since its founding, Thi Thao Copenhagen, which prides itself on creating sustainable luxury for women, has grown into a highly sought-after brand that counts chief executives, celebrities and politicians among its customers. “We buy fabrics from some of the best suppliers in the world, and use them for timeless designs that are made to fit our customers perfectly. Our customers normally dress in our clothes when they need to look their best,” Kasper explains.
“We are nowhere near meeting all our goals yet, but on a normal day, I see our clothes on TV three to four times if I just put on the news broadcast for an hour. At a recent major health conference, 12 of the speakers wore Thi Thao clothes. And a while ago, our clothes were on three women visiting the White House,” he says proudly. “We have become a go-to for a large number of Danish power women, both for their daily business wear and for making their gala dresses when they are invited to formal functions.”
Kasper worked hard to get to where he is today. “l was fortunate early in my career to be in positions where I got to be the strategic cornerstone of creating growth for my employers. I worked hard and enjoyed it. I also enjoyed our successes,” he says. “l learnt that I was really good at finding actionable solutions to business challenges. Before I turned 30, I became part of the top management of a media company and helped them establish a broad international presence. From that point on, I always chose my jobs based on how significant the challenges were that I could help solve.”
From parties to life Lessons
His journey to success had many interesting twists and turns, including studying at SU in 1998. Kasper has many fond memories of his time at Maties. “A friend and I had the opportunity to attend SU for a semester while studying for our master’s degree in International Business at Denmark’s Aarhus University,” he explains. “The two universities had an exchange programme, and we grabbed the chance to write our thesis in Stellenbosch. It was about market opportunities for Massey Ferguson harvesters in South Africa. While we mainly worked on our thesis, we also attended some classes and actively took part in student life.”
Kasper remembers all the parties, the braais, going on wine tastings, cycling in the mountains, learning to play tennis, swimming in the dam above Coetzenburg on Tuesday mornings before class, and the frequent trips to Cape Town. “l had a great time in Stellenbosch and have been back to Cape Town and Stellenbosch a few times since then. I also got to go on a safari and met my first wife in Stellenbosch. We were married for 12 years. Had I not visited Stellenbosch, I would not have had my two eldest daughters!’
Asked whether his time at SU helped shape his career in any way, Kasper highlights the classes in strategic management he attended. “l very much enjoyed those lectures. I specifically remember one about work monitoring, which was more controlling than most people in a Danish workplace were used to. Since then, I have learnt that it is a very Scandinavian management style to act more like a coach than a boss. At Stellenbosch, I realised that people from different cultures expect different behaviours from their boss. That has been a great life lesson, which has been very valuable to me.”
“At Stellenbosch, I realised that people from different cultures expect different behaviours from their boss.”
Writer: Birgit Ottermann
