Richard James new london line could answer your wfh dilemma

When Richard James first took up residence on London’s Savile Row nearly three decades ago, it wasn’t quite the warm welcome they had hope for. As part of what was called ‘the New Bespoke Movement’ their generous use of bright colours and bold pattern was at odds with what the Row’s tailoring fraternity considered traditional bespoke. It survived the raised eyebrows and questionable looks from their neighbours and contemporaries and in the process turbo charged their way to the top of British tailoring. It took some balls to break into the often fusty tailoring establishment as they did, but fundamentally they saw a need to offer something nobody else was doing at the time. Much as changed over the last few months never mind the last few decades and men’s formal suit sales have somewhat fallen off the proverbial cliff edge. I asked the brands Co Founder and Managing Director, Sean Dixon last week about their new launch into a dedicated Sportswear line. How might the Richard James customer respond to this departure from their bread and butter offering of tailored suits, candy stripe shirts and brightly graphic silk ties?. ‘We have always had a casual element within our main collection and this has been growing over recent years. We have seen an evolution in the way men dress, more separates and the lines being blurred between what was traditionally recognised as formal and informal’.

The RJ line was germinating long before anyone of us knew what social distancing and WFH meant, so could this be another one of those serendipitous moments for the brand? ‘Launching Richard James London has given us the chance to expand this area, taking all the RJ elements of fit, function and colour and make the prices more accessible. We have enjoyed the process and the collection has been welcomed by our regular customers and at the same time introduced the Richard James to a new younger audience’ Dixon tells me as he acknowledges that the way men wear their suits or tailored separates continues to evolve.

‘It is not unusual to see one of our customers wearing a £5k bespoke suit with a t-shirt or polo shirt and trainers’, adds Dixon. The new 32 piece collection titled the Richard James London Line has all the hallmarks of the brands DNA, the brightly coloured fabrics and the familiar attention to detail is across all three areas from the Voyage pieces which offer laid back seasonal items made up of bomber jacket, unstructured blazers, field jackets and gilets. While the Core line as it suggest caters for those year round staples men gravitate towards such as fine cotton jersey T-shirts, polo shirts, loop back sweatshirts and chinos. The Active line is perhaps the biggest departure for the brand with a mix of highly functional performance driven pieces of T-shirts, track pants, running shorts and hoodies. All cut in technically efficient fabrics with breathability and moisture wicking properties its key selling points. It may be a further sign of committing to the Casualisation of our wardrobes, but the streamlined pieces devoid of tricky design details give it an elegance and a nod to a more nostalgic era of sportswear.

Looking through my own wardrobe over the last few months has meant beautifully cut jackets and sharp pleated tailored trousers have been left to languish on hangers, made redundant from the lack of need or purpose for which they were designed. I can’t see me pulling on a tailored jacket anytime soon either. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic around 1.7 million people in the UK were working from home, according to new data from the office of National Statistics which shows just 5% of the active 32.6 million UK workers consider home their main workplace last year, up from 4% four years ago. Yet the pandemic has seen a seismic shift in working habits and methods since March with an estimated 20 million people relocating to home offices. While this may be temporary for many, it will become the norm for others and figuring out how we dress when working from home is still very much part of the conversation. With many of the younger demographic adjusting to their new at home work place, could the London Line answer some of their style dilemmas?

Thankfully the Savile Row store is now open for business, but its only generation of sales (for the last 3 months) has come via its online site, so how has the business faired? ‘Online sales have been strong as we would expect. It is our only sales stream. Tailoring is also strong we sell a fair amount online, I think as men have got used to shopping on line the thought of trying on a suit or jacket at home and knowing how it fits is no longer a challenge.’ Dixon tells me, confirming that a robust e-commerce site has meant the difference between surviving or dying over the first quarter of this year and while e-com is going to be vital for many retailers to weather the current storm, it hasn’t stopped Richard James being focused on opening up another bricks and mortar store in the heart of London’s Soho.

Based on Noel Street the boutique store will be ideally placed to offer the new London Line to its passing footfall, generally a mix of local media and creative types. So despite the current upheaval in retail and general cautious attitude taken by so many, it’s encouraging to see Richard James leading the way again, doing things their way. ‘Yes mad isn’t it?! We are retailers first and foremost and still feel the best way of helping people understand what this new collection is all about is to house it in it’s own physical environment. Soho is a departure for us but we are really looking forward to being in dynamic high footfall area (hopefully soon)’ says Dixon and when he tells me this I can’t feeling its done without the need to cross any fingers or toes .

www.richardjames.com