https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46814152
I envisage a few more might go this year. Will the brand be bought by another on Savile Row? Doubtful I would of thought. By a private equity turnaround firm? By a Japanese company? Absorbed into a downmarket aggregator?
I expect a few heritage brands to go this year and next. A slow down in export sales, fewer visitors to London in a Brexit situation for a while, tightening the belts before the global slowdown really hits - it doesn't bode well.
Some Hardy Amies items on their site are going for less than shops on the high street which can't help keep the brand identity at the right level if that's what they seek.
I've always found it slightly odd - Although he had the menswear stop, he was famed for clothing high society ladies.
It seems tenuous now in connection to the heritage.
Something new to discuss here then, thoughts?
Last edited by An Unseen Scene (2019-01-09 09:50:05)
I find very hard to see that there will be fewer visitors to London post Brexit. I take it you mean from people living in the EU? Isn't that a bit like saying less Brits will visit Paris or Rome or where ever post Brexit?
Your a Guardian reader aren't you?
Never took much, nay, any notice of Hardy Amies TBH, beyond old photos that have turned up on the net or in a magazine.
I think the weaker pound is doing wonders for the tourist trade in London, its heaving with foreign visitors. My mate runs a freight forwarding business and they do all the overseas mail order stuff for Charles Tyrwhitt, mainly to Germany and the USA(different brand strata I know), he's never been busier. Naturally he's worried about the prospect of us leaving the EU Customs Union.
Hardy Amies' big claim to fame was being the Queen's dressmaker for many years. Unless they keep reinventing a lot of these fashion houses seem to gradually run out of steam once the principal snuffs it (he died in 2003).
I might be doing them a disservice but £175 for a suit on their website doesn't seem to promise a lot.
Yes Hardy Amies is trading off a name that doesn't mean much and isn't at a quality point it's location indicates.
As for London - over time in tourists it will balance out, at first if there are logistical issues it will slow down for a bit.
What logistical issues do you have in mind related to tourists?
If we have a no deal situation, the airports and ferries are not prepared for it. Even if a small proportion is real and not government scare tactics, it's a real issue.
They have not created new arrangements for it yet. It happens in March.
If there are delays for European visitors in either direction, other people will get caught up in in.
Groups of tourists transiting from Europe into UK would also have issues potentially.
So some firms that have the option may just tune out UK/London for a few weeks, months until it calms down.
Part of the issues is one of sentiment, it looks chaotic or there is any form of instability on the streets, it will be flashed on the news and tourist firms wait it out.
I guess we'll all see soon now, however it all goes this week.
What do you mean, not prepared for it?
Good topic Unseen, if things get too far away from style talk I'll move it to NSFW, discussion can continue there. As an American, it's always interesting to read the perspectives of you UK folks on these issues... Carry on
https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-iata/no-deal-brexit-risks-travel-chaos-nightmare-at-airports-iata-idUSKCN1MY1XL
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46774054
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-46564884
https://news.sky.com/story/eu-airports-unable-to-cope-with-safety-risks-of-no-deal-brexit-leaked-memo-reveals-11502372
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/thousands-of-new-flights-at-risk-in-no-deal-brexit-1.3738514
https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/brexit-no-deal-travel-flights-eu-uk-cancelled-departures-cost-a8691686.html
I'm not saying any of these situations will or won't be difficult or happen, the only thing that is clear right now is that nobody knows.
Natural shoulder, I like it.
Maybe they'll have Brexit at Sir Winston Churchills Flem spoon.'s?