After two years of a pandemic and work-from-home culture, the world is finally starting to feel like it is turning again. As many of us navigate our foray back into the real world through in-person meetings and social get-togethers, some have been left scratching their heads trying to understand how to appropriately dress in a post-loungewear landscape. What is considered business attire? How do you dress for an event now? Is it acceptable to live in a sweatsuit all day?
Much in the same way that the pandemic has drastically changed work culture, so too has it changed the rules of style. That’s not inherently a bad thing. Style is ever changing and fluid. It exists not only as a vehicle of self-expression but as a means of navigating the obstacles and challenges of our day. What that has meant in a time where much of our work and personal activities have existed within the walls of our homes is a focus on comfort—sweatsuits, loungewear, soft and pillowy fabrics, and textiles with stretch and durability. But comfort and quality don’t need to be at odds with each other. Precisely the opposite, today’s movement towards a more relaxed approach extends into the world of customized apparel where you can have the best of both worlds.
“The era in tailored clothing of men wearing very close-cut garments was halted when the pandemic forced most to work from home and men immediately donned their most comfortable stretchy pants,” says Adam Percival, who heads up Harry Rosen’s made-to-measure program. “They slowly began to realize the productivity boost they get from feeling good about their personal appearance. We wanted to create pieces that have classically influenced style elements while being as comfortable as the typical work-from-home sweatsuit uniform.”
HAROLD is a new menswear label by Harry Rosen that places an emphasis on collaboration between you and the brand. It’s one born into an era of style that heralds individual expression, quality, and comfort for the discerning, modern man. Consisting of an array of custom-made and ready-to-wear garments, think of HAROLD as the upgrade to all your daily sartorial items. Every single decision made to bring your suit (or shirt, or track suit, or jacket) to life is one that you have a direct influence on in order to end with something that is a true reflection of your perspective and lifestyle.
“Harold is the perfect collection to build your own unique style. It’s providing benchmarks such as consistency, price, and value but more importantly, it provides you with options,” says Percival. “The high level of customization along with the wide variety of luxurious fabrics available is what sets it apart from the crowd. HAROLD allows men to infuse their individuality into their wardrobes and express their style to the fullest for both special events and everyday wear. Also, the custom garments deliver quickly, usually only taking less than four weeks to create.”
These certainly aren’t your average run-of-the-mill garments either. Taking into consideration the time that we live in now, these are pieces that are both luxurious and pragmatic, doing away with all the aspects that we wish we could change about our favourite items and keeping the ones that we love. Think: beautiful, unstructured suits with devilish details like Neapolitan shoulders and surgeon cuffs, or charming lightweight safari jackets made of the world’s finest fabrics. Hate going to the drycleaner? While you work with your Clothing Advisor to build your suit, you can choose a fabric that is machine-wash friendly—a gamechanger for those looking to simplify the wear and care of their garments. That means a no-fuss home solution to a spill or stain (hey, they happen) instead of the logistical inconveniences of professional cleaning.
“First, choose the style of garment you want to create. Then, you can choose from coveted old-world tailoring fabrics to groundbreaking modern technical fabrics, pick stitching options, custom embroidery and monogramming, and much more,” says Percival of the HAROLD process. “After you’ve created your garment to your exact vision, we make sure the fit is perfect to you.”
Speaking of attention to detail, a truly unique facet of HAROLD’s private label is your ability to customize the lining of a suit, coat, or jacket. Not only can you decide on how much of it you’d like (fully or half-lined), but you can also choose from a selection of patterns and prints available through the HAROLD swatch books. Want to make it even more personal? You also have the ability to upload your own image or images to the HAROLD platform, which then prints off your one-of-a-kind lining pattern to be used within your garment.
Harnessing the full potential of the program, Harry Rosen President Ian Rosen commemorated the brand’s rich legacy by utilizing old magazine ads and newspaper clippings from 1954, announcing the first Harry Rosen location.
“The lining of my suit is made up of vintage Harry Rosen newspaper ads from when my grandfather started the business,” says Ian Rosen, President and Chief Operating Officer, Harry Rosen. “The ads were always bold, imaginative and witty. Not bad reminders to carry around with me.”
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HAROLD also considers what you might prefer to wear on your work-from-home days or weekends. Their track suit program lets you relish in the ultimate sartorial indulgence by letting you build one from thread-to-garment so that your style never goes off-duty, even when you do. Customize everything from your collar (would you like a hood with that?) to even the colour of your drawstring for a uniquely personalized home uniform.
“There is an increasing desire for men to have more control over their personal style; with work attire evolving and events back in full bloom, custom clothing can help express your individual style to the fullest,” says Rosen. “HAROLD empowers people to infuse their personality into their wardrobes and celebrate their culture, traditions, and heritage.”
The view of custom apparel traditionally only applied to the usual suspects: weddings, boardroom power suits, and maybe a few shirts here and there. But this is the post-pandemic era—those rules no longer apply. Today’s culture of style is unscripted and personalized, bound by no rules other than your own. Therefore, customization should apply to all aspects of your wardrobe, not just what you wear to work. It’s been two years since we’ve really been able to express ourselves dynamically through style. It’s time we had a little more fun. Let HAROLD help you out.
Head to harryrosen.com/HAROLD to learn more.
