Jack Wills creative director Richard Nicoll gives British brand hip factor

Ever since Jack Willswas founded in 1999, the British brand has amassed a following among hip university kids who can't get enough of their casual sweatpants and hoodies inspired by British heritage. It wasn't long before it was being hailed as the next Abercrombie & Fitch, with a succession of stores opening in cities across the world from to Boston and Dubai to Los Angeles and Hong Kong, where it has four outlets.

Last year its hip factor went up a notch when it appointed high-profile British designer Richard Nicoll as creative director. Nicoll has been on the fashion radar since 2006, when he launched his eponymous line, subsequently winning countless awards and celebrity fans including Sienna Miller and Keira Knightley.

Although the designer had previously collaborated with high street labels such as Topshop and Australian brand Sportsgirl, the announcement still came as a surprise to many fashion insiders. It was an unlikely pairing, given that Nicoll is better known for creating luxurious modern classics rather than the preppy style staples of Wills.

"I always wanted to design accessible clothes with a modern lifestyle approach. In fact, my last collection mixed soft tailoring and sportswear, so there is a connection there," says the Central Saint Martins graduate, who was recently in Hong Kong to show Jack Wills' summer collection. "I was really excited to try something new."

While the brand's T-shirts and jersey separates are its bread and butter, Nicoll was brought on board to add some serious fashion cred. As such he decided to draw upon not only the brand's British heritage but its youthful playfulness to appeal to a new audience.