Off the cuff

Last week we hosted the International Federation of Image Consultants at our Head Office, where we talked to them on the topic of dressing a man for business and gave them unique access to our design and technical departments

The IFIC are a non-profit professional organisation that supports, promotes, develops and regulates the image profession in the UK and overseas. These ladies really understand the importance of image, they help individuals and companies finesse how they project themselves to the outside world.

When it comes to menswear, business wear in particular, there are some real intricacies – and as we pride ourselves on our obsession with detail, the IFIC felt we were the right people to talk to their members. Geoff Quinn, our CEO, started off by introducing T.M.Lewin and explaining how we’ve now got to the point we’re at.

Next up it was Anthony Procopi (Director of Menswear) and Matthew Rochester (Director of Tailoring). Anthony gave an education in shirts, whilst Matthew did the same for tailoring, focussing on style, sizing, structure and development.

After a brief break the room was split up into groups for a practical exercise that involved each group being given a card with a certain type of man on it (for example, Daniel Craig, Jamie Cullum, Barack Obama etc) in a certain situation (board meeting, a tv appearance, after work drinks etc). Once they had received their personas they had to put together an outfit using the suits, shirts, ties, pocket handkerchiefs and socks that we had laid out. Afterwards the groups had to present their outfits to Anthony and Matthew who critiqued the selections.

The IFIC members also the opportunity to take a tour around our office, going through our technical and design departments and meeting other members of our team along the way. We’ve had some great feedback from all who attended, and we really enjoyed hosting the event!