Meet the man reviving 1990s fashion favourite Joseph

But we’ll get to that in a minute. First, my shopping list. A scour of the new Joseph collection — the first complete offering since Arena arrived at the brand Joseph Ettedgui founded in 1979 — reveals a chic banana-sleeved jacket in a deep, boozy claret, a double-cuff shirt and a brown silk dress so well constructed that my bobbled blue jumper has rarely felt less inviting. There’s texture too: I desperately want the oversized leopard-print sweater and a smooth leather jacket with a pin-sharp collar.

Arena is a self-confessed “coat guy” and that comes through. I spy deliciously long, masculine overcoats with a whiff of early Nineties glamour. A technique geek, he’s also bringing new fabric innovations to the brand, calling on old supplier connections and moving heaven and earth to make that happen — an easy feat when you’re one of fashion’s nicest. One of the looks set to be unveiled on the catwalk next week is a skirt and sweater combination embellished entirely in quills inspired by porcupines, created using a 3D printer. I only see it as a picture on his iPhone, but I am sold. I’m sold on Arena too.

In the designer, who was born in Adelaide to Maltese parents, it certainly seems Joseph is backing another winner. The South Australian follows in the footsteps of Louise Trotter, the Northumbrian designer — now at Bottega Veneta — who was creative director at Joseph for the best part of a decade from 2009 (the last time I recall being a superfan of the brand — go figure).

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You may not have heard Arena’s name, but this is far from his first rodeo in luxury fashion. He headed up design teams at Christopher Kane, JW Anderson and Nanushka before landing his new gig, and has the steely ambition and energy to rival any breakthrough designer.

“I want Joseph to be all-encompassing, a place you walk into and breathe the Joseph lifestyle, just as you did when it opened all those years ago,” he says. “I want to do glasses, shoes, handbags, menswear — all of it. I am raring to go.” The fruits of his labour are already clear in the range of woven bags (a relative bargain at £595, given that those by Chanel or Prada will set you back four times as much) and jewellery he shows me (yes, I’m still shopping).

Arena, like many of Joseph’s most loyal fans, is misty-eyed about its early Nineties heyday. Arriving in London at the time via a stint in Paris at Yves Saint Laurent, he was a customer first and foremost. “Saturdays were shopping days. You’d go to Harvey Nicks, walk round to Emporio Armani and then go to Joseph. What made Joseph special then is still what makes it special today. It was classics but with an edge.”

In those days, Joseph — the brainchild of the maverick Moroccan hairdresser turned retailer Joseph Ettedgui — was a byword for everything achingly chic; so too were its black and white stripy carrier bags. Having started it as a side project, Ettedgui transformed his King’s Road salon into a concept store, filling the windows with designs by everyone from Margaret Howell to Alaïa before launching his own ready-to-wear label, which stood out for its understated innovation.

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This aesthetic, revolutionary at the time — and now emulated by brands such as The Row and Studio Nicholson, for whom Joseph paved the way — made a lasting impact on Arena. “I think throughout my career, whoever I’ve worked for, I’ve taken elements I loved from Joseph with me. It suits me. It suits who I am.”

He feels he “manifested” his new job. “My partner and I often walk our dog past the Marylebone store. I was always stopping to tell him, ‘Oh, what I could do with Joseph,’ ” he says.

His first challenge was to bring a sense of realism to the clothes. “Then and now, it’s about reflecting the way the customer already dresses. With everything we’ve done since I got here I’ve said to the team it has to be timeless. That doesn’t mean boring — it means effortless. We’ve got to create clothes that are easy to wear.”

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Arena’s first port of call was the archive, which comes through in the collection, with hints of Nineties Calvin Klein and Michael Kors. “I always tell my team, if you want to understand me better, think Seventies and Eighties TV. That’s what I grew up on.”

There’s glamour too, perhaps inspired by the strong Maltese women who surrounded him as a child. “I was a bit of a square peg,” he says, describing a young boy who sketched while his friends surfed and played football. “I’d refuse to go to school until I’d watched the fashion segment on morning television. Then my mother taught me to sew.”

A master’s at the Paris American Academy followed, and then an internship under Yves Saint Laurent — a period equally loaded with glamour. “Women like [the socialites] Nan Kempner and Jacqueline de Ribes would come to the studio. I’d just watch them with my chin on the floor. It was an amazing time.”

I sense Arena remains in complete adoration of the women he dresses — whether that’s the Gen Z designers on his team who bring him tales of vintage Joseph unearthed from their mothers’ wardrobes or the loyal customers he meets on the shop floor. “Understanding them is part of my process.”

What do women want now? “In a post-Covid world, the single biggest demand is for uncomplicated fashion. They don’t want clothes that require instructions. They want to fling them on and feel good.”

Ensuring Joseph maintains a level of inclusivity is also crucial to Arena. That includes price point — while far from cheap, the brand is more accessible than many luxury competitors — and age. “I met a woman in store recently who was worried that Joseph was no longer for her. I can’t have that. I assured her there was plenty here for her. That’s so important to me.”

Today, Joseph is owned by the Tokyo-based Onward Holdings Co, which acquired it for about £140 million in 2005 and is now backing its next chapter under Arena’s creative direction. The upcoming catwalk show at London Fashion Week may paint Joseph in a different light. “That’s sort of the point,” Arena says. “We want to surprise. We want to make an impact. The classic Joseph foundation pieces will still be there in store, but this is about pushing the customer a little.”

“No one needs to see another white shirt on a catwalk,” he continues. “My plan is to get the customer to dream again.” It’s a great plan.