New trends and styles for men’s clothing and accessories are often influenced and preceded by women’s fashion. If floral’s are on the cards for spring 2009 then similarly you’ll see watered down versions in suits through to silk ties. It might sound ridiculous, but, it has been so for centuries. Jean Patou a Paris fashion designer made silk ties from women’s dress material, hence the advent of the designer tie. So the concept is nothing new. The fact is women’s fashion is specifically designed to attract man. And so naturally including a smidgeon of femininity into men’s accessories, silk ties in particular, makes perfect sense. The other thing is, you’d be surprised at the number of females that design men’s clothing. It is our good fortune that they do, otherwise we’d end up with nothing other than grey suits, striped ties and tattered old wallets. I’ve seen the spring summer 2009 silk tie collection, they are drab and colourless, a series of stripes and geometric patterns, no floral’s at all, which, after seeing what women plan to wear is in contrast to logic. How much longer do we have to be confined to conservative shades of grey? Well, luckily there are changes afoot and if you’re prepared to look hard enough will be rewarded. There are designers out there who accurately forecast future trends and they’re the ones to watch as they buck the critics view. The women fashion designers I know of and or associated with all share common traits, the way they incorporate colour and pattern cannot be mimicked by man. And that’s where the great appeal is, it’s the scent of a women in the designs they create. Rather than follow mainstream, we’ve created our own regime with a small cluster of male and female designers. People may ask, what’s so special about that? Well there’s only one way to find out. By name, Cressida Bell, Victoria Richards and Vivienne Westwood, Shane McCoubrey, Ian Flaherty, Lbb London and Simon Carter. By unique product brand, Falling Leaves silk ties, Bar, Orb, and the cube Swarovski crystal cufflink by Ian Flaherty. And if it’s Jewellery for men you’re searching for? The best is deigned by a woman. Now here are a couple of historic anecdotes from our data base. 1971: Maverick screen actress Katherine Hepburn, whose long-term lover Spencer Tracey was a customer of Huntsman, takes the extraordinary step of ordering bespoke denim jeans from her late lover's Savile Row tailor. Hepburn's commission foreshadows bespoke denim collections launched in 2006 by Timothy Everest and Evisu. 1973: Robert Redford stars in the definitive film of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald was a dedicated customer of Jermyn Street bespoke shirt maker Turnbull & Asser. The shirts that reduce The Great Gatsby's socialite heroine Daisy (Mia Farrow) to tears with their beauty in the film all bear the Turnbull & Asser bespoke label. 1974: Gieves Ltd acquires Hawkes (and the precious freehold of No I Savile Row) and become Gieves & Hawkes.Tommy Nutter seeks sanctuary at Kilgour, French & Stanbury after his acrimonious exit from Nutters of Savile Row. Kilgour also incorporates the famed hunt tailoring specialist Bernard Weatherill. Nutters of Savile Row continues with Sexton, Roy Chittleborough and Joseph Morgan.Maurice Sedwell hires Trinidad-born Andrew Ramroop who will go on to become Managing Director and a Professor of tailoring at the London College of Fashion. There will always be a niche to fill and our aim is to do so.
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