Floor seats (and an insider’s glimpse) at the Dean Dome

Through Dean Harter, a good friend of mine and a customer who owns Retrah, a great store in Lewisburg, Penn., I had the opportunity recently to meet Don Friday. Don is the head basketball coach at Saint Francis University in Loretto, Penn. (Note: Dean also happens to be an orthopedic surgeon and became friends with Don when he was an assistant at Bucknell and Dean was the team physician). Don subsequently invited us to sit with him on the bench and watch his team play North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Saint Francis is a small Division I school and helps fund its athletic department by playing larger schools early in the season. Dean, his wife Connie and I met in North Carolina for the game. Seeing the Dean Dome for the first time is quite something if you’re a basketball fan. They’ve got endless ACC Championship banners hanging from the ceiling along with plenty for winning the national title. It’s really a college basketball shrine.

We went to the morning shoot-around at 9:00 a.m. and then did some sight-seeing. By about 2:00 p.m. we were in the locker room with the team and Don was talking to his players about how to handle such a powerhouse team. I know Don wanted to make a game of it, but he talked a lot about the opportunity to play a top ranked team in such a hallowed place.

Tip-off was at 3:30 p.m. and things started off well. Saint Francis was actually ahead after four minutes and stayed close for ten. After that, Carolina’s strength and the depth of its bench started to wear our guys down. It became quite a rout late in the first half and Carolina won by forty-seven points. Saint Francis was 1 for 13 from the three and Carolina ran away with it in the second half.

Don and the team were pretty disheartened, but for me, it was a great experience. We also ran into one of the University of Miami coaches the day before, so we left after the game, grabbed a quick bite and went to the Duke/Miami game just down the road in Durham. Duke was ranked number one at the time, so we had quite a day of basketball.

One little foodie tip while I’m at it. We ate at Vin Rouge in Durham. We were thoroughly lost on our way to the Duke game and tripped across this place. It’s the most authentic French bistro I’ve ever been to outside of Paris and we really enjoyed the rustic atmosphere, the hearty fare and the friendly staff.

Since our trip to the Dean Dome, Saint Francis has been back home playing in their league and has won five of six, including a strong win over Long Island University, who is leading the Northeast Conference. Don called me the other night and his mood had improved dramatically from when I last saw him. Congratulations Don and thanks for the fun time at the Dean Dome!

Northern Italy

Sandra Santi, fashion consultant and Claudio Passera, (right), managing director of Testa, and me enjoying dinner at a wonderful Tuscan restaurant.

I just spent ten days in Italy, working on our collection for fall of next year.  I was in Tuscany for most of the trip, which is one of my very favorite places.  The countryside is beautiful, the people are warm and friendly and the food is really something else.  I’d be better off if I liked light food, but I really don’t.  On the Sunday after I arrived, we drove north of Florence and turned onto the narrowest road imaginable (two way, of course).  My Italian agent Sandra and her husband Marcello wanted me to see a wonderful rustic Tuscan restaurant up in the mountains.  The name of the place is Osteria San Michele Arcangelo di Montecuccoli.

How could it be bad with a name like that?  They make their own pasta, wine, cheese and salami and they raise cattle and chickens. They serve wild boar that they hunt nearby.  It happened to be porcini mushroom season, so these were in abundance as well.  This place is about as authentic as it gets.

I really didn’t want to miss the Formula One race, but I thought this was worth it.  The next thing I knew the owner was turning on the television and everyone in the place, including the eighty year old couple at the next table, was watching the race.

Since I wasn’t in Italy primarily to eat and drink, I spent most of my time visiting suppliers. We spent a full day with my favorite Italian fabric mill, working on shirt fabrics for next fall. I consider this mill to be the best of the best and they’re a pleasure to deal with. We got a lot done and we’ll have some beautiful new qualities in our shirt collection for next fall.

We dropped by the Milan shoe and leather goods show, which was about the size of my home town and very interesting to see. As with most people who love clothes, I like great shoes, so we keep kicking around the idea of adding a couple of shoe styles that would make sense.

We visited sweater factories and yarn spinners and spent a lot of time working on some new outerwear pieces as well as a great unconstructed sport jacket. We’ll be making some of our pants in Italy again as they have the best pant fabrics in the world. People continue to dress more casually most of the time and the Italians have been hard at work creating casual looks. The emphasis is on new dyeing and washing processes that give garments a broken-in look. They use non-colorfast dyes and even spray a second color over the base color to give a faded, inconsistent quality to a shirt, pant, sweater or jacket. The fine make and fabric of the garment still show, so it’s casual, but very sophisticated.

Italy is an inspirational place to do this kind of work and I really enjoyed this trip. I very much look forward to showing you the new things we developed while I was here. We work quite a long time in advance, so these products won’t be in the stores until next August, but I hope you like what you’re seeing from us this season and that the new things suit you when they arrive. There’s always something new and I feel very lucky to do what I do.

 

Lots of new things coming Fall 2011.

Value in Luxury Goods

 

 

What constitutes real value?

Now that the tree on which money used to grow has been pruned, how does the upscale consumer define and look for value?  This is an interesting question to me and one that I think is pertinent to understanding the man who wears our clothes.  Better brands are still doing well and the bottom has not dropped out from under the ultra-luxe business.  This customer has become accustomed to exceptional quality and doesn’t want to settle for something ordinary.  It makes sense that the customer now, more than in the past, wants to be sure he’s getting his money’s worth.

For a period of time the world was awash in luxury goods and it almost seemed like the very well-heeled consumer enjoyed overpaying.  It was as though this reinforced his self image of being successful and able to afford prices that other people couldn’t consider.  Every time I turned around I saw something new that was meant for this particular consumer.  Five thousand dollar suits had become ten thousand dollar suits and twelve hundred dollar handbags were now sitting next to six thousand dollar ones.  A stratospherically expensive Ferrari didn’t seem so crazy next to the new Bugatti Veyron, built by Volkswagen(which means “people’s car” ha ha) and priced at over a million dollars.

The $1.7 million Bugatti Veyron. How much would you pay for luxury?"

What’s changed?

What some of the recent studies indicate is that the luxury consumer now needs to know what is special and worth the price about the item he is considering.  This buyer doesn’t want to get fleeced by buying some faux ritzy item for three times what it’s worth.  Are the materials special and will they make this item last longer and be nicer to use or wear?  Is the design unique and timeless enough to use for a long time?  Even though it’s costly, is it the best in its class, nicer than anything else for the same price.  To a truly wealthy person, a Bentley automobile, a London grade shotgun or a Morris M52 sailing yacht may represent good value, even though they cost enough to choke a horse by normal standards.  They’re all beautifully made and I’m sure a joy to own and use.  No one can argue that the law of diminishing returns is at work here.  To go from something very nice to the best that exists is accompanied by a huge leap in price.  Nevertheless, the materials, craftsmanship and even the heritage of these things can’t be disputed.  Authenticity is also cited in these studies, which certainly applies to the things I mentioned above.  Established, long-admired brands are more trusted than the luxury brand that was invented last year.

What about you and me?

My feeling is that most of us have also become used to nice things.  We still like to go to our favorite restaurant, even if we may not go as often.  We may postpone trading our car, but will only buy a car that we really like when the time comes.  We, too, don’t want to overpay for something, but we want it to be special, to be beautifully made, nice to use or wear and we want it to last.  We want to know that whatever we buy is the best in its price class.  Forgetting about the best of the best, there are exceptional brands that cater to the upscale consumer, rather than just to the people who own private jets.  I’d like to think that we run one of those companies.  We scour the world for special fabrics, but we can’t simply buy the most expensive fabrics we find or we would price ourselves out of the reach of the man we’re trying to appeal to.  We do most of the fabric design ourselves so that we can offer something unique and attractive. We specify every last detail, from yarn quality to weave structure to fabric finish.  We pour over details until we think that the garment is the best it can possibly be.  We avoid any materials or construction techniques that would diminish its durability.  Buyer’s remorse comes from something that didn’t live up to your expectations or that didn’t give you your money’s worth.  That’s the last thing I want my customers to experience.  Our clothing is expensive enough that it needs to be just right.  You should be comfortable in it and look good in it.  I hope you get compliments on how good you look more often than I do, but I know that it’s nice when it happens.  I’m sure it’s my clothes that look good rather than me, but I’m happy.  The best place to look for value is in fine stores and from good brands that have proven themselves to you.    If you’re reading this, I’m sure you can distinguish between something that’s worthwhile and something that’s just pretending to be special.

Be Stylish and Comfortable

You’ve probably noticed that styles have gotten trimmer over the past couple of years.   While most of us are classic dressers, we know that things change.  My personal clothes don’t fit exactly the same as they did five years ago and I like the slightly trimmer look.  There is, however, a limit for most of us and that limit is being tested by some of the current styles.  Men who wear our clothes value comfort and a relaxed fit is what they want.  They’ve been shown new styles by some brands that they simply don’t feel comfortable wearing.

We want our customers to look well-dressed and current, so part of that is updating our silhouettes.  I never forget that one of the hallmarks of our brand has always been comfort, so I’m very careful about drastic changes.  Our customers enjoy well-made, flattering clothes, but they’re much more interested in being well-dressed than in following fashion trends.  We’re devoted to our customers and we want to give them what they want, not to talk them into something.  Our clothes are made to last and are expensive enough that the look and fit shouldn’t change every season.

An example of how we balance look and feel

Jeans are a good example of what we try to achieve when we develop a new garment.  When we started the jean project, we wanted to make a jean for our customer that would be flattering and comfortable to wear.  We knew the world didn’t need another modern, fashion jean, least of all from us.  We also knew that our customer didn’t want to look out of date in his jeans.  We spent a couple of  years working on the jean, making prototypes in a number of different places until we got what we wanted.  Our jean isn’t for everyone any more than our brand is for everyone, but our goal was to make a jean for you, our customer.

My point is that you don’t have to sacrifice comfort in favor of style and you shouldn’t be talked into doing so.  Shop in the stores in which you’re most comfortable, take advice from the knowledgeable people there.  Trust your own instincts as well.  The best dressed men look natural and comfortable in their clothes.  Thanks for letting us help you to be one of them.

Skiing in Steamboat Springs

My wife and I both enjoy skiing and, now that our kids are old enough (four and six) to take part, we’ve tried to get away when we can to ski as a family.  Steamboat Springs has long been our regular favorite.  Steamboat has a unique personality among Colorado ski towns.   Steamboat normally gets more than its share of what the locals call “champagne powder” and offers endless and varied terrain for all levels of skiers.  It sits next to the wide open Yampa Valley, so the sun shines later in the day than at most ski areas.  It’s a very casual place and, though I’m in the fashion business, I really like the vibe here, which is more relaxed western town than ritzy resort.  The ski school is highly regarded, especially for young kids.  Our kids aren’t quite ready to keep up with us, so they spend most days in ski school and have a great time.  It won’t be long before we won’t be able to keep up with them.  If you’re looking for a place to ski with your family and you want something not too fancy, I’d really recommend Steamboat.  I’d also love to hear about your favorite ski resort.  We’d like to try something new when the kids get a bit more proficient.

Steamboat is a great family ski place.

I’m a fan of cool gear, as I think a lot of our customers are.  When I was young, which was quite some time ago, I bought new ski gear every year or two.  By this ski season, I had been skiing on the same Volkl skis and Tecnica boots for the past seven or eight years.  I’ve really enjoyed this equipment and, like my golf clubs, it certainly isn’t what’s holding me back.  In any case, I got the itch to buy new gear this season, so I started looking around.  I have very wide feet and have never had what you could call comfortable ski boots.  Our local ski shop, Outpost Sunsport, has been telling me about Apex boots.  Denny Hanson started the company a year or so ago.  He lives in Boulder, CO and started Hanson boots in the early seventies.  These were the first rear entry boots and pretty revolutionary.  I had a pair in 1972 and they were torturously uncomfortable and cold.  Not being one to hold a grudge for any longer than thirty five years, I decided to give his new boots a try.  They’ve basically taken a snowboarding boot and put it inside a carbon fiber exoskeleton (their word, not mine) with a couple of buckles to hold them together.  I skied in them on this last trip and I have to give them two enthusiastic thumbs up.  They’re incredibly comfortable and warm.  Someone who is accustomed to race boots might think they’re too soft, but their performance is right up there with typical high performance recreational boots.  You’re supposed to be able wear the soft inner boot around as an after-ski boot, but I’d rather clomp around than have one more thing to carry, so I didn’t test that.  If your ski boots are keeping you from enjoying this great sport, take a look at these.

Apex Ski Boot

I looked for new skis, but I was discouraged by the crazy graphics on most of them.  Granted, I expect the high performance models to be designed to appeal to the twenty somethings, but I don’t want any skulls painted on my skis.  I was in a shop in Steamboat and saw a solid blue ski on the wall made by Wagner Custom Skis.  Pete Wagner was a golf club designer who decided to apply his knowledge to making custom skis in Telluride, CO.  He asks you to fill out a profile and then he builds your skis.  He has some wild graphics available as well, but he also makes skis in solid colors as well as ones with gorgeous wood top skins.  These are a little showy for me and I don’t want to explain what they are to everyone in the lift line, so mine will be burnt orange.  I’ll let you know how they ski next season.  I’m sure they’ll be great and  I know I’ll like the way they look.

I’d love to hear about your favorite activities, if you’re so inclined.  People who like nice clothes seem to like other nice things, good food and interesting travel spots.  Please let us know what you’re interested in and what you’ve been up to.

Fun weekend in Austin

My wife Tonya and I just spent four days in Austin, Texas and really had a good time.  We had never been there and had always heard what a great town it is.  Tonya had entered the 3M Half Marathon, so I decided to go with her.

We stayed at the Driskill Hotel (www.driskillhotel.com), which is an old downtown Austin landmark built in 1886 by a cattle baron.  It was renovated four years ago and has a real authentic Texas flavor.

Besides wanting to be a supporting husband, I had another reason to visit Austin.  Classic Jaguar, www.classicjaguar.com is one of the best Jaguar restoration facilities in the country and they’re in the middle of restoring a 1964 E type convertible for me.  Calling it the middle is probably looking on the bright side, as it currently looks like eight or ten piles of unidentifiable parts alongside a stripped body shell and a shiny, rebuilt motor.  I’ve wanted one of these cars since I was about eleven and, of course, I bought this one in the old economy.  Dan Mooney, the owner of Classic Jaguar, was nice enough to explain to Tonya what sensible investments old rusty sports cars are and how simple and inexpensive they are to make brand new again.  If you ever want to do something this irresponsible, these guys are true craftsmen and are a pleasure to deal with.

On Friday night we went to Manuel’s, a sort of hip (at least hip enough for me) Southwestern restaurant with endless varieties of margaritas.  The young Austin crowd was there waiting for the new Apple IPad to be released.

Our brand is sold in two very nice Austin specialty stores, Texas Clothier and Hutson Clothing, so we visited both stores on Saturday. If you live in Austin or are visiting and need some nice things to wear, you can find them at these terrific retailers.  For directions go to www.texasclothier.com and/or www.hutsonclothing.com.

My navigational skills leave something to be desired and it seems like most major thoroughfares in Austin have at least two names, so we got lost a lot, but saw more of the city as a result.  We strolled around south Congress Street (SoCo) in the afternoon.  This is a funky little neighborhood, with a combination of tatoo parlors, young clothing stores and good places to eat.  We had lunch at Enoteca, which we wish would open in Fort Collins.  We saw some live music at Antone’s, www.antones.net on Saturday night, one of the better known of countless live music venues in Austin (www.austinlivemusic.com).

Tonya’s race was on Sunday morning and she finished 13th of 458 in the 35-39 women’s group.  She turns forty in two weeks and is actually excited about it as she’ll no longer have to compete against the 35 year olds.  That afternoon we drove around the west side of town, which is hilly and very pretty.  We’re really hoping to go back sometime soon.  Tonya will want to run the race again next year and I’ll be curious to see if my car has begun to look like a car.  We really recommend Austin for a short getaway.

Spring is in the air at Scott Barber

Mens linen shirts, perfect for warmer weather.

We just got back from shooting the spring line for 2010 in December.  Our location this year took us to Naples,Florida, where it was a balmy 80 degrees the day we shot.  For those of us who live in cold climates, we thought you’d appreciate a glimpse of the Spring line and maybe some wishful thinking that warmer weather is right around the corner.  Enjoy.

Get ready for a colorful Spring.