スティーヴン・フライのインスタグラム：「I presented for #fryties last week a slim necksnake in cream and maroon that came from the now defunct menswear chain Blazer. I ruminated on how the misfortune of Blazer’s name being an English word for a kind of sports coat made it so hard to research the company’s history. Some of you well-informed followers were good enough to let me know that Blazer had been founded by one David Krantz and subsequently bought for £5 million by Storehouse, Terence Conran’s retail conglomerate (Mothercare, Habitat, BHS etc) before Storehouse in turn sold the company on to Moss Bros. This included Blazer’s own label tailoring line De Havilland, as in the tie I offer up today. Next Mr Krantz founded the upmarket casual clothing group Racing Green, which he sold for $19 million to Burton in 1996. Moss Bros and Burton were the two best known names in 20th century British high street menswear. Demob suits, special occasion hire, smart outfits for men who didn’t often wear a suit or think too much about clothes. Both companies struggled to stay afloat in the rising yet turbid retail waters of the 80s and 90s. Fashion, foible and fickle fancy make profitability and even solvency a game of Buckaroo in the clothing business. You can be forced by shareholder pressure to pay for the services of some dickbrain of a “brand consultant” or “PR guru” who’ll have you spend gazillions on redesigning and “reinventing” your shops, and radically changing your lines, logos and layout. Result, you alienate your loyal customers and cause snorts of derision from the young who can see with piercing clarity that you are trying to appeal to them. And nothing will cause them to stay away more completely than that. A painful experience suffered by many a company. And this was before the explosion in online retail. Burton has the happy privilege of belonging to “Sir” Philip Green of the Arcadia Group now. Gone for a Burton indeed. But one doesn’t wish them ill. It’s tough out there. Nor the Brothers Moss, who have dressed men so well for 170 years. They at least have managed (as far as I can tell) to stay independent. David Krantz is, I hope, enjoying his money. Thanks for tie, Mr Krantz.」
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Stephen Tomasin
