I’m just back from the Winter collection photo shoot – an exhausting 4 days waking up at 5.30 but it was all worth as it as we got some fantastic pictures!
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Come in and explore Off The Cuff
October 21, 2009 | By GeoffTML
- 2410 views
- 14 comments
- Company news
I am very excited about the launch of "Off The Cuff" this is a great opportunity to share information between customers and ourselves.
Over the last few years when I have shown people around our Head office I always get the same comments of surprise at how much design, detail and passion there is in what we do. This site is about opening the doors of our company to those of you who ever wondered why you feel so good in a Lewin shirt.
The Company has changed unbelievably in the last 29 years. When I joined in 1980 there were only 6 of us in our Shop on Jermyn Street.
We have always embraced new ideas and have in fact been selling on the Web since 2003. The only thing we have never changed is our obsession with our product, everything we do works around that.
I invite everyone to comment on our site, we genuinely want to know what you think and I hope this will lead to new styles being introduced or to changes in our company through a better understanding of what our customers want.
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Comments
I congratulate you on the excellence of your new site.
As is the case with all of your product it has style, flair and great aesthetic appeal.
Will there be opportunities for users to offer suggestions for say colour preferences in shirts and ties which may in time be introduced if there is sufficient interest shown by both your design team and other customers?
Thank you for inviting us to make comments about your site. I do love your products but, I miss a selection of hadkerchiefs and patterned bowties. Will you ever add some of them?
I love this new section on "Community" and also your shirts. I order them online as I reside in Sydney, Australia.
One question - will you have slim fit shirts for your Travellers range?
My mother spotted a TM Lewin catalogue languishing on the coffee table ..... Anyways long story short, she chose a shirt & I got it for her, Christmas..... I was very disapointed to see a "Made in Vietnam" lable on her shirt tho' come Christmas day. I honestly expected better ..... Its a fine English tradition to intimate one thing & deliver another now is it? I know other companies trade in a similar way, but I'm not commentibg on "Other" companies.
Thank you for your comments and I’m really sorry that you were disappointed to see that we no longer manufacture our garments in the UK. We pride ourselves on our British heritage and shirt craft expertise and all of our design is still done in-house in Britain, exclusively by us. We manufactured in Britain for a number of years, but as our business grew it became impossible to recruit staff into the industry as the manufacturing industry in the UK was dying out. We have been manufacturing our shirts overseas for over 10 years now and we are very proud of the high quality standards we maintain.
The T.M.Lewin approach to manufacturing has always been to set up our own production lines and work with manufacturers as part of a long-term partnership. We have been lucky in finding a fantastic manufacturer with whom we have a great working relationship and who are one of the largest producers of cotton in the Far East. They grow the cotton themselves which means that we are able to control the quality of the weaving as well as the manufacturing very closely. We have an excellent working relationship and our own technical teams are working overseas with the manufacturer regularly. As perfectionists, we were drawn to a manufacturer that could meet our high standards and maintain our social and ethical policies, together with considering environmental concerns. We are not required by law to state the country of origin of our garments, and indeed most of our competitors do not, but we believe in being honest and we are proud of the quality we achieve so there is no reason not to.
I really appreciate you giving this feedback as that is exactly why we launched this community so that customers can share their views with us and give us honest feedback, and we can in turn share our passion with you and let you know how and why we do what we do. Thank you again for your comments and please keep sending them through.
Geoff
Just heard you on Evan Davis's show on Radio 4 and was impressed with your modesty and honesty vs some of the other guests: of course hard work is necessary for great success but without luck you'll be average at best.
And you'll be pleased to know that your comments about Off the Cuff prompted me to visit your website. I completely agree that there is nothing to fear from open feedback if you're being open with your customers.
Finally, as a regular customer of TML, I was very pleased to hear your obvious passion for the business - long may it last.
Mike
Great site love Johns You tube tips excellent tips keep them coming .