Hardy Amies - The Phoenix rises!

 For my first blog piece of 2012 I want to reintroduce Sir Edwin Hardy Amies and appreciating quality over quantity.

HA’s ABC of men’s fashion was first published by Newnes in 1964. Reading through it you soon navigate yourself back to a time when men (and woman) took a little more pride in dressing themselves not for the sake of fashion nor to impress their peers but so as to look their best, all of the time. It opens with a famous Amies quote

“A man should look as if he bought his clothes with intelligence, put them on with care and then forgotten all about them.”

Each entry is short and entertaining, ABC allows a fleeting insight into the mind of one of Britain’s most talented outfitters. Unlike the man himself I live by the ethos that there are no definite rules to dressing. If you like a garment, it fits well, looks good and makes you feel more confident then wear it, who’s to judge!?! We live in a very different time, the fashion industry is now a multi billion dollar machine, bulging with celebrity, dominated by the ‘it’ girl, the ‘it’ bag and our lives are lived in one position, fast-forward. This fast paced lifestyle multiplied by a harsh and uncertain economic landscape has played host to a new kind of consumerism. Markets are full to the brim with fast fashion, fast food, fast living, fast dining, fast reading, fast living…. Dead. Everything has to be stunningly accessible, websites don’t sell you things, you are presented with “what to buy”, “we recommend you try this”. Convenience is king! This winter high street stores have struggled more than ever. Is it the end to the high street?

I have a love hate relationship with the Internet, Facebook is a thing of beauty, near flawless in its design and craftsmanship. News travels in real time. Dictatorships have been overthrown with its help, riots fuelled with it. People have fallen in love over it and divorced because of it. The effortlessness in syncing your entire ‘digital’ life with every program and friend you have, awe-inspiring. Information is God, but do we use it? Like most drugs you need to get away from them from time to time and the internet is no different.

Brought up rather old school when it comes to buying things I like to do it in the flesh, a penchant for seeing things, feeling them, smelling them. I like watching other people shop, I both loathe and love fragrance departments reeking of synthetic laden new releases,  become seduced by the subtle woosh of the air conditioning, smile at the sound of clothes hangers scraping against their rails and the click of metal against metal as you re-peg unwanted products. The way in which the sales assistants sheepishly ask if you need help, the smell of cold/hot fabric yearning to be worn. That rustle of wrapping paper as your purchase is placed in the bag, you can feel the tackiness of the tape securing your purchase in place as the top is closed. Finally the hot jet of air as you walk out the door, an experience has just taken place… I love all that and you don’t get that from clicking a mouse. Time to leave your homes and get outside!!

Having never been influenced by the changing face of our high street or by the leaps and bounds in internet shopping technology, I admire them for what they are but I know my own disproportionate figure pretty well, I know which brands clad it well, which cuts highlight it and also which colours suit my skin. I shop unblinkered most of the time, stopping at select pieces checking the quality, eyeing the proportions, stretching the shoulders, feeling armholes, logging my thoughts and walking away. I have a rather short skinny torso, long but thin arms and long legs. I am finding it harder to find off the peg clothes. This wasn’t always the case…

Hardy Amies opened a store on Edinburgh’s George St. in Oct. 2007. I used to frequent here as a not so tall teenager. I loved it. The perfect balance of high street meets the row. It provided stellar customer service that all tailors on the row pride themselves on; the shopping assistants were laidback but efficient, impeccably dressed and most importantly honest. Sadly I no longer fit any of my garments and have since divvied them up between my more petite friends and family. Like all good things, the shop came to an end far to soon, the company hit financial difficulty after their Icelandic backer Arev withdrew their funding and new owners Victor and William Fung decided a new business strategy was needed. Tally Ho retail stores, hello once bombed out 14 Savile Row.

 

After a few years with little noise from the house a strange thing happened early last year BANG! Ad campaigns promoting the houses latest offerings arrived back on the pages. The website took its time to shed any real details on the come back but for me it all restarted with an immaculate AW11 collection inspired by Hardy’s life in the 1930’s European society circuit. Boasting shoes by Edward Green, a classic colour palette of greys, reds and blues. Structured and unstructured Prince of wales and windowpane blazers, double breasting in wool cashmere and that wonderfully British style icon... the contrast collar shirt. Safe to say a new lease of life has been pumped into a dying Savile Row establishment.

So who’s behind this resuscitation? After an award-winning year at Patrick Grant’s E. Tautz the ready to wear queen of Savile Row, Claire Malcolm. Claire was appointed as Designer at the fabled house of Hardy Amies in 2010. This new look by Malcolm maintains the classic British aesthetic while channelling continental styling’s, understanding Heritage brands she is moving with the times, introducing current trends whilst still staying true to the companies historic past. This balance has seen Hardy Amies soaring back to the top of British menswear once more.

On a perfumed note. A few years back I managed to pick up a bottle of Hardy Amies eau de parfum from the now defunct Roja Dove install in Edinburgh’s once famous Jenner’s department store, a steal at £60. Sadly there isn’t a single drop left and the bottle is now stored in my grandmothers perfume treasure trove/ graveyard. An understated chypre cut in half by two sensual white floral notes of jasmine and ylang-ylang both of which are draped in an astonishing hazy tobacco veil, grasped by the lapels with lemon oil, sewn neatly together with rose and myrrh and an androgynous wink towards the gentleman’s fougére with nuances of aromatic sage and earthy green patchouli. If this really is a come back for Hardy Amies then I eagerly await the roll out of new ready to wear and possibly even another new fragrance or at least a re-launching of this one, pretty please!

Sir Edwin Hardy Amies left us at the not so tender age of 93 back in 2003 and for a while I thought his memory and name might also have left us too. As of last year the HA heart seems to be beating again and so far its looking…. Dashing!

Hardy Amies, 14 Savile Row, London W1S 3JN

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