It’s that little glimmer of future reward that keeps me inspired to get out of bed every day. Its the proverbial carrot in front of my nose – the little electronic bunny leading me around the track. Call me selfish, but after years of living in large cities and enduring hectic international travel in service of the firm – what could be more pleasant than ‘retiring’ out on to the seas where you can only be reached by a tender or helicopter? Bliss in my opinion. I clearly understand the lure of the yachting lifestyle despite the exorbitant cost.

In recent months however, my quaint allegiance to Sunseeker has shifted. I have been seduced by a rival and fell willingly into their arms without hesitation. Hermes and Wally yachts had announced their new collaboration on the new WHY yacht concept that would combine the unquestionable taste of Hermes with a revolution in sustainable yacht design based on comfort rather than speed. I was hooked.

Hermes Artistic Director, Pierre-Alexis Dumas was quoted as saying that, except in the case of aircraft, “speed as an aesthetic is passé”. He questioned when we now have time to think. “Time like this is not a luxury, it’s a necessity. If we don’t think, we alienate ourselves in a dangerous way. Going slow is a natural reaction to the artificial speed of light we created.” One journalist observed “He could be reading from the Slow Food manifesto.”

Per usual, Monsieur Dumas was speaking directly to me as I am somehow no longer in a hurry to go anywhere fast these days and definitely prefer my thoughts and my food at a slow and simple pace.

I began to hatch my plan. I had found the inspiration to keep going through even the darkest days of my (sometimes stressful) existence as a master cobbler. I would conquer the world One-Kudu-Loafer-at-a-Time and save my pennies for a WHY. Imagine the stares of jealousy as I (slowly) cruised into the Marina Piccola in Capri with barely a wake behind me and the long (slow) journey to exotic ports of call surrounded by  such quality craftsmanship!

Unfortunately, my dreams are dashed. It was announced yesterday that Hermes has decided to dissolve it’s venture with Wally due to issues with further investment in the project. Seems the yachting lifestyle is a bit of a reach for even the likes of Monsieur Dumas. Wally will continue to develop the concept and somehow Hermes will still collect a percentage of the sales through 2020…but I doubt the furniture will be as nice.

Apres Ski is another story. How do you look stylish in the posh alpine cafés on non-ski days and while lounging about the hotel with all the trendy Russians while still maintaining an air of practicality?

Some things I have learned from observing the natives:

1. It’s all about the lug sole.

Now I have always been a big fan of a rugged lug sole and deftly inserted a few into our current Harrys Autumn/Winter 2009/2010 collection much to the shock and horror of Jason our Retail Manager. Surely we would never require such wintery footwear in W1?

Naturally, we use the most traditional version from VIBRAM, who have been producing rubber soles for hiking and skiing on the Italian/Swiss border for over 70 years. If you wonder how this applies to trekking to Credit Suisse in Canary Wharf, see below:

The SIMON cap-toe lace-up with VIBRAM lug, £385

This is what I call practical, functional, classy and versatile. Great with a suit or knee socks and lederhosen!

Back to the Austrians…

There is a traditional style of dressing in these parts of Europe that has always fascinated me. The head-to-toe buck deerskin trousers and suits, the wool felt jackets with Nehru collars and the smart hats and embroidered belts. I know this would look ridiculous in Mayfair, but I have been having a Sound Of Music moment all week.

Julie Andrews styled by the girls from HEART.

Respect to the couple that own this shop in Kitzbühel. This is Alpine fetish couture taken to another level. Leopard fur corset anyone?

On a more sober note, but no less amazing was a traditional menswear store in the center of town where you can purchase a shearling riding boot (with welted lug), suede sport coat and fur lined overcoat all at the ready. Christopher Plummer, eat your heart out; The-Hills-Are-Alive-With-The-Sound-Of-Elegance.

In Kitz, it's Prada and PRADER!

After the feast I left the leafy, tranquil suburbs of Connecticut for New York to catch up with old friends and check in with Agent Honeypot (otherwise known as Julia, our US Sales Director and glamorous gal-about-town) in our new 5th Avenue Harrys of London office.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I (Heart) New York. I lived and worked there in the late Nineties/early Noughties and never thought I would leave. But after almost 10 years in Europe, I feel less and less like a New Yorker and no longer have the brain capacity or desire to know all the hotspots or trip-the-light-fantastic until the sun comes up. I prefer to experience New York these days in a slower, more low-key way and hopefully eat some Huevos Rancheros at some point during the trip (London has such shit Mexican food doesn’t it?). Anyway…I digress.

Along with my trusty oldest friend in the world, The Artist Formerly Know As Dunbracken, I spent the weekend eating and drinking in many of Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan’s cooler bars and eateries. Amongst all the hipsters something began to strike me as an odd and glaring trend. Apart from a crippling recession, New York seems to be in the throws of a full-fledged Industrial Revolution and stylistically obsessed with Gangs of New York. It’s as if the hottest new interior design firm and hipster style icon is lead by Bill the Butcher.

Daniel Day Lewis as Bill The Butcher

The modernist white box interiors of the Sex and The City Manhattan have been replaced with a darker, decidedly simpler vision of Gotham. It’s as if the Recession Depression has turned peoples idea of Downtown back to a time when Wall Street was nothing but a ramshackle cow pasture surrounded by derelict buildings (I guess things have not changed that much).

It was decided after a heated argument with The Artist that the style in question is actually referred to as Jacobethan, (the style designation coined in 1933 by John Betjeman to describe the English Revival style made popular from the 1830s, which derived most of its inspiration and its repertory from the English Renaissance (1550 – 1625), with elements of Elizabethan and Jacobean). Are New Yorkers so depressed that they have regressed all the way back into the Old English womb? Is Bill the Butcher the new Gordon Gecko for our time? I knew Wall Street has been a blood bath lately, but this is taking things way too far.

The Jacobethan trend has been bubbling up for some time now. It is obvious that the all the recent attention in the fashion world towards classic tailoring and English menswear has crossed the pond in a somewhat theatrical homage to Shoreditch. The popular Freemans restaurant started things off a few years ago with it’s ‘Rugged, clandestine Colonial American Tavern’ decor [and I must admit it is quite charming]. Naturally, the idea has even spawned a new clothing label Freemans Sporting Club complete with vintage logo and scruffy bearded models.

The New York Times has also caught on to the trend with their recent men’s fashion editorial entitled ‘New Victorians’ featuring a similar style that was photographed using a Civil War era Tintype camera to complete the effect. I noticed this first as one of the models bore a striking resemblance to my friend Elise’s handsome husband (turns out it actually was him…on the right).

New Victorians by David Sokosh for the New York Times

The ‘edgy’ theme park that is now Brooklyn seems to have reached the apex of Jacobethan style in the decor of the trendy Williamsburg Bar-B-Que joint ‘Fette Sau’ where the beer tap handles had been replaced with rusted meat cleavers and assorted cutlery (once again…Design By BTB).

I guess now that New York has successfully redecorated and gentrified the Meat Packing District into a New Jersey Mall, everyone seems to be looking back to the days of refrigerator trucks, trannie hookers and pools of real blood in the streets.

Cut to December 2009. All  those pretty shops along west 14th Street sitting half empty and hopeful that the shopping hordes will turn out in the coming weeks til Crimbo. If  uptown is any indication, the hordes are staying home and sharpening their CVs instead of shopping. Agent Honeypot and I went for some research shopping at Bergdorf Goodman one evening after work and were practically the only people on the entire men’s designer floor. We were also the only people shopping in the men’s shoe department, but unfortunately for the sales people on commission, we were not buying (my closet is full of Harrys, thank you).

I feel for you New York and wish all you retailers luck this season with all that plaid. I will be sitting here in the land of Dickens counting my retail blessings as the recession continues for yet another Christmas season. Thankfully, most men can still appreciate the lasting benefits of a nice pair of shoes. But let us pause for thought and fade out to that famous Pogues song:

Happy christmas your arse I pray god it´s our last. 

And the boys of the NYPD choir’s still singing Galway Bay 
And the bells were ringing out 
For christmas day.

On a recent trip to Milan, I had a conversation with a friend who is starting a new product design/concept studio about why that city embraces Design (with a capital D) with such passion. For most casual visitors – and even the seasoned fashionista – Milan is a big, confusing, angry, drab industrial city that is either too hot or cold and damp. The Milanese are famous for not only their chic style but also their chilly indifference to foreigners. But scratch below the surface, beyond the shiny boutiques and posh restaurants, behind the grand imposing doorways and what you’ll see is a culture that heartily embraces new design and an intelligent mix of history and the future. It’s like looking at one of those visual brain teasers that requires you to relax your vision in order to see the embedded image. There is something in the Italian psyche that holds tightly to tradition but also looks forward to creative (and stylish) solutions in everyday life.

I did not feel a recession depression in the spirit there, although my beloved Trattoria Bagutta was noticeably quiet during Monday lunch service. In fact, I thought the city looked fresh and bustling in the September sunshine. I think the European sense of history helps to (mentally) weather cyclical ’storms’ like we are experiencing now as we are reminded everyday of past periods misery and prosperity in our architecture, style references and rich culture.

As for the retail business and our own attitude toward the future: I think traditional Italian (and certainly Savile Row’s) attitudes towards longevity in clothing can teach us a lesson or two about changing consumer attitudes. Anyone familiar with Italy knows that Italians LOVE to window shop and store windows often contain more merchandise than the actual store. Prices are displayed and the merchandising flawless. In store customer service is generally excellent if a bit formal. Many an American tourist has been chastised for rushing into a store and pawing the neatly stacked sweaters like they would at the Gap, much to the screaming horror of the sales staff. Why is this? Because Italian consumers already know what they want when they walk into a shop. They have spent night after night passing by the beautiful shop window on their evening ‘passeggiata’ and have already made a conscious decision to purchase said sweater. They know the price and need only assistance with a size. These are well considered investments – not fast fashion crazes. Men purchase ONE suit per season and build wardrobes of lasting quality, not bins full of Primark. Fiat heir Lapo Elkann famously inherited the suits of his uncle Gianni Agnelli and has had most of the made-to-measure pieces re-cut to fit his frame. Now that’s quality shopping and recession-fabulous all in one.

We are seeing a shift in the luxury consumer towards this kind of considered purchasing that bodes well for brands that value quality and design. This is where the intelligent consumer is heading, like it or not. Fast fashion is here to stay – but I prefer to advocate a longer term approach.

Like the famous poster here in England says: Keep Calm and Carry On