Elliot Moss
Welcome to Jazz Shapers with me, Elliot Moss, bringing the shapers of the business world together with the musicians shaping jazz, soul and blues. My guest today is Sean Dixon, co-founder and Managing Director of Richard James, the Savile Row tailors, and you should see him, he looks a proper sight here. Whilst studying Marketing and Business at college, it was his Saturday job at fashion store, Browns, that Sean first met the menswear buyer Richard James. When Richard launched a menswear collection, Sean accepted his invitation to join forces and co-found their eponymous business. With the pair initially creating fashion shows in Paris and selling the clothes to retailers but in 1992, hungry for their own store and needing to pay the bills, they saw an opportunity to marry aspects of the fashion world with the heritage and history of Savile Row and opened their first Richard James store in a tiny venue with a £10,000 overdraft. Their bold, colourful design may have upset the more staid retailers on the street and they struggled with low sales and multiple burglaries but Richard James found a loving, growing audience of influential creatives and professionals looking to stand out and have some fun. But you are wearing, obviously, I mean I’m assuming it’s a Richard James suit.
Sean Dixon
Oh yes, certainly.
Elliot Moss
Yeah, I mean, I think you probably, if you got caught ever not wearing Richard James, you’d be a little…
Sean Dixon
I’d be in trouble.
Elliot Moss
You’d be in trouble with yourself, I imagine.
Sean Dixon
There’d be a few questions to be asked.
Elliot Moss
It’s great to have you here and as a person who likes to wear a nice suit, I must admit today I’m not wearing a nice suit, it’s the truth, it’s a t-shirt and jeans.
Sean Dixon
Dress down.
Elliot Moss
It’s a, it’s a dress down for Jazz Shapers but you are wearing a lovely suit and a lovely tie and a lovely shirt and all that. Tell me about your relationship with fashion, before we get into where this went and Richard and Browns and all that, when did you realise that it wasn’t just about wearing clothes for you but you actually had a relationship with…
Sean Dixon
That’s a, that is a really good question and one I’ve asked myself because I am interested in clothes, I mean you have to be interested in clothes to do what we do, you know, it’s, it’s a business but you have to enjoy what you do, same with anything. Looking back on it, I realised I was quite interested in clothes from a fairly young age. When I was at school I was quite interested in, you know I did a lot of sports, but actually what really drove me on in sports was to get into the sports teams because they had slightly better outfits, they had slightly nicer t-shirts.
Elliot Moss
Nice kit.
Sean Dixon
Yeah, nice kits. And actually that drove me to get on the running team, the swimming team and perhaps that’s what kind of instigated my love of clothes and love of detail and colour. So yeah, perhaps, going back, I think I was probably ten, eleven I liked it and it kind of carried on and you know, I didn’t know what to do when I was you know school student, got a job working in a store called Browns which unfortunately doesn’t really exist.
Elliot Moss
Doesn’t exist but I did meet years ago and went for a walk across Hampstead Heath with Joan and Sydney…
Sean Dixon
Boan Burstein.
Elliot Moss
…and Sydney at the time.
Sean Dixon
Wow, yeah.
Elliot Moss
So they were the founders of Browns and…
Sean Dixon
Yeah.
Elliot Moss
…he, I think Joan is still alive.
Sean Dixon
She is.
Elliot Moss
But Sydney has passed away.
Sean Dixon
Correct.
Elliot Moss
And they happened to be living in the same block of small flats, a beautiful part of Hampstead, many, that’s probably thirty years ago. And she was a formidable woman then, you know when you’re in the presence of someone who is older than you and you go just to, you don’t muck around with this person. Lovely, and Sydney from recollection was convivial as well, but they were a power house at that point, they were one of the original kind of high end place on South Molton Street and all of that.
Sean Dixon
Absolutely. A unique store, I mean it became a, it became a bit of an empire.
Elliot Moss
And you went there in ’84 is that right?
Sean Dixon
I went there in ’84, I got this kind of work placement and you know where everyone else was heading up to marketing and advertising agencies, I, I kind of, I remember going into there and asking them if I, you know saying I’d quite like to spend some time in the, you know the press office or the buying office and they said, yeah, yeah, yeah, you’ll be working in the warehouse downstairs and stockroom.
Elliot Moss
But you got literally you got, you had the connection, the connection began, the visceral connection began.
Sean Dixon
Yeah, I like to, you know, in the ‘80s there was no, you know, I had you know I liked clothes so there was nowhere else to go, you know, those pre you know Selfridges, Harrods, they didn’t have that level of, it was called ‘designer clothes’ back then, that was the term that was used, you know you don’t hear that term anymore, it was kind of luxury or whatever but it was designer clothes because they were created by designers, you know, and that kind of culture, the designer kind of you know started back then and I remember working there and you could see every single film star, pop star would be going through those doors and it was a really glamorous, interesting place to be with interesting people, every kind of major person in fashion has worked there.
Elliot Moss
And of course, and we’ll come onto this in a moment, all the people that have come through the doors of Richard James and indeed are dressed by Richard James over the years, whether it’s members of the Oasis band, members of Pulp, Mark Ronson, David Beckham or even Sir Elton John. We were talking about your initial relationship with clothes, I just want to mention your relationship with music as well because I do think this is not coincidence. The scene that you were involved in, you worked at the Wag, you worked at The Fridge.
Sean Dixon
Yeah, I was, put clubs on, did a bit of DJ’ing.
Elliot Moss
All that stuff, I mean again, the worlds of fashion and music are not unconnected but they’re kind of on, you know there’s an edge to it.
Sean Dixon
Yeah, especially then, I think they were very music, fashion, film, all very much connected and you know going out to the nightlife in London, I found, I don’t know what it’s like now I’m really old but back then it was really exciting and you know it was a great place to be and…
Elliot Moss
I didn’t jump in and go, “he’s not that old” did I? I should have done, sorry, it was very, I was. “Elliot, I set that up for you.”
Sean Dixon
I was hoping, there was a delay, really? You can’t be.
Elliot Moss
You look really young though, Sean, for 104. No, we’re, we’re a very similar age. We’ll leave it that.
Sean Dixon
We’ll go with that, yeah because I’m a bit older but.
Elliot Moss
But you enjoyed, you enjoyed being in that world?
Sean Dixon
I really enjoyed it, it was really fascinating, I had so much energy. I guess you know maybe everybody feels that at that age you know, 18 to 22, 23 you know you feel really excited about just being out there, you know I’d lived in suburban south London and suddenly I was in the middle of the West End and doing things and what’s interesting, a lot of the people I met in that, during that time, still friends and you know they’ve gone on to do, you know they run restaurants, they’re serious editors, they’ve, you know, they’ve tied, they hold down real jobs.
Elliot Moss
I don’t think it’s a coincidence though you see, Sean, I think there’s an energy that comes from being in, for those people that are interested in fashion and music because essentially, you’re recreating the future every day.
Sean Dixon
I agree.
Elliot Moss
And that’s sort of what you’re doing as well, which I also want to talk about the future of Richard James but we’ve got to talk about the present, so you meet Richard, there’s, is there chemistry when you meet him or is it a slow burn?
Sean Dixon
Probably, he probably didn’t really know who I was and didn’t really care. But no, we, we met and I guess you know, Richard is you know, he was a great guy, he’s really interesting, he’s really funny and you know a real personality so yeah, we formed a bit of a connection, I did go on to do a couple of other things before we started the, you know the business but we kind of stayed in touch and I think we both had a love for classic menswear that could be pushed a little bit, could just be pushed on a little bit, try, you know be a bit more experimental and…
Elliot Moss
And why did you both want to be experimental? What was it that drove that?
Sean Dixon
That’s a really good question. Probably just to make things more interesting, you know just try it, try things out a little bit. I think we realised that you know if we’re going to make a business out of something, you can’t do the same, same thing everyone else already does, it’s got to be, it’s got to be fairly unique and you, and what is that unique, USP, you know, what is that? We didn’t know what USP meant back then but you know what was it going to be and ours was going to be well, let’s take classic tailoring for instance and let’s maybe add a bit of colour or a bit of texture, just change things a little bit, put it together with a bright pink sweater or you know, a lime green overcoat, just, just, just try that out and that’s what we, that’s what we did, we did that for a while and no one really took much notice of it, then eventually they did.
Elliot Moss
And why did they suddenly? What happened?
Sean Dixon
I, you know it’s a very good question, I, I, I don’t, I don’t really know, I think maybe things changed, when we, when we first started the business in ’92, we were in the kind of depths of a recession, dress down Friday, I don’t know if you remember that, yeah?
Elliot Moss
I do, yeah.
Sean Dixon
That had just been introduced.
Elliot Moss
A disaster for most middle-aged…
Sean Dixon
A sartorial disaster.
Elliot Moss
…men and probably women but definitely the men. I mean it was horrendous.
Sean Dixon
Yeah, chinos.
Elliot Moss
Chinos that just with those pleats and you just go, you shouldn’t be wearing that.
Sean Dixon
Yeah, yeah, it was all…
Elliot Moss
Not so young person.
Sean Dixon
It was an all round disaster and so when we, when we started the business, I mean people would ask us what are you guys doing? Are you doing a tailoring company? This is, you know, no one is going to be wearing suits anymore, you know, it’s the end of it. And we thought god maybe they’ve got a point but let’s give it a go anyway and, and I think it resonated with a, with a different sort of clientele, we always say our tailoring, our suits are worn by people that don’t have to wear suits, you know, so you kind of have to give them a reason to wear suits. What is it? You know and that was right at the beginning in ’92 and I think that still is the case now.
Elliot Moss
And people obviously thought, even your 10th anniversary I read in 2002, they were like oh, they’re still here, just a couple of quotes, I think you put them in the windows at that point. “We’ll give them six months” they said, very dubious. “At least they’re not Boots the chemist. They won’t last 5 minutes. Don’t know one end of a needle from another.” And lots more, are things that people said and they’re still here and Sean Dixon is my Business Shaper still and we’re going to be talking about what’s just happened as well in the world of Richard James, that’s all coming up in a couple of minutes. But right now we’re going to hear a taster from the Mishcon Innovation Series, which you can find on all the major podcast platforms. Lydia Kellett invites business founders who share their industry insights and practical advice ideal for those of you thinking about starting your very own thing. In this clip focussed on the fashion industry, we hear from Eshita Kabra-Daviess, Founder of peer-to-peer fashion rental app, By Rotation.
You can enjoy all our former Business Shapers on the Jazz Shapers podcast and you can hear this very programme again if you pop ‘Jazz Shapers’ into your podcast platform of choice. We’re so good here aren’t we, nice and open. My guest today is Sean Dixon, co-founder and Managing Director of Richard James, the Savile Row tailors. I mentioned the 2002 moment, the window saying, I kind of think it was a bit of a two fingers up to everybody. They thought you wouldn’t be there. It was a polite two fingers, it was a smiling two fingers but it was like excuse me.
Sean Dixon
Yeah, Savile, Savile Row kind of two fingers.
Elliot Moss
Yeah, Savile Row’s a bit hoity-toity, right, I mean it’s got beautiful clothes on it and you can see Sean’s looking at me going “I couldn’t possibly agree with that but sort of might be” but here we are now, you’ve just reopened, redesigned, tell me a little bit about the thinking behind what’s going on right now in the Richard James business.
Sean Dixon
Yeah so we’ve, we’ve just re, we’ve spent quite a lot of time and money refurbished out what was our bespoke store on the corner of Clifford Street and Savile Row, it’s a lovely old Georgian townhouse, it is a house, as all Savile Row establishment are called ‘houses’ and we’re opening it, it’s beautiful, it’s perfect and it’s kind of what we feel the direction for tailoring. Tailoring by definition is a kind of personal experience, it’s an experience, everyone talks about retail needs to be an experience to stop people just shopping online. Tailoring, by definition, is, has to be, and then bespoke and made to measure which we, which we do, which we undertake, intrinsic part of our business, even more so. So you know we wanted to create a space, an unusual space, a light space, a luxurious space, where men can come and buy suits and tailoring. We have a lot of other things, you know, shirts etcetera, etcetera. But the idea is it feels a very luxurious space and we’re very committed to that and I, we have to give people a reason to come into a store, to come into shop and also to spend time you know and I think that this store, we’ve put a bar in there, we’ve made it very open on the first floor so that we can hold events, so people can come and we can have 30-40 people you know, whether someone who is a writer, a musician, a lot of our clients, you find out that their day job is a surgeon but they also have a whisky business on the side because it’s their passion.
Elliot Moss
Of course they do.
Sean Dixon
Of course they do, everyone does. And you know we, you know they’d love to use the space and so would we, we’d love them to use it.
Elliot Moss
And you must love that Sean because again it’s sort of the fusion of, I think I read somewhere that you talked about arts and commerce and that balance but it’s also just the fusion of, of culture.
Sean Dixon
Yeah, of course, and creating a community.
Elliot Moss
And, and yeah. And the community of Richard and Sean over the years, has that evolved as well?
Sean Dixon
It’s probably grown and become extended but I think intrinsically it’s probably the same as when we started, you know, like minded, you know when you start a business you’re supposed to have an idea of who your customer is and we all thought they were kind of creative professionals, you know architects, advertising, business, that sort of thing and I think that’s probably still the case but you know, in actual fact it’s extended much beyond that, you know, the, the sort of customer we have now is, could easily be work in finance but has a certain attitude, you know and certain style, you know when I was saying to you when we started at the beginning and it was all about dress down Fridays, a lot of the guys, they were younger guys, would come in, they didn’t want to dress down on Friday, they wanted to dress up on Friday and they wanted to have big pinstripe suits with purple lining and they wanted to look really sharp, they wanted to feel and look good and be a master of the universe and I think a Savile Row suit helps you with that, you know, as part of the process, so.
Elliot Moss
And the team delivering that around you and your way of managing them obviously, generations change and we read about the Millennials and we read about Gen Zed and we read about, all these things, I mean it is, it is really challenging. How do you, Sean, in your role running this business ensure that those great people in there are indeed great and work together and understand the ethos of Richard James?
Sean Dixon
Yeah, yeah, that’s very true, I mean you’re nothing without the people that work with you, work for you, you know, and I think we’re really lucky, we have an incredible team, a lot of people have been with us over twenty years, I mean that’s unusual, at the same time we have younger people coming through, through the business and you know I guess we’ve just been lucky, they’ve, they get what we do, they want to be part of it and you know they buy into it, I think that’s as long as you can convey exactly what it is you want and what you do, I think it happens and you know I think we’ve been very lucky, there’s no, we don’t have a strict kind of this is what we, how we want everyone to be, it’s you know I think if you trust people and let them show initiative, they usually repay you correctly.
Elliot Moss
And would they, if I asked each one of them, would they be able to articulate the Richard James difference, the thing that we talked about just before?
Sean Dixon
I think they would.
Elliot Moss
And what would they say?
Sean Dixon
I think they’d say it’s, it’s classic men’s clothing but with a pointed difference, with a certain style, with a certain cut and you know colour, texture, all those things would come in. Men’s clothing, what we do, is all about detail and understanding what that detail is and being able to, to convey that, you know if you come in for a suit that’s going to be made for you, you’re part of the process as a client, you know you’re in it as well.
Elliot Moss
I remember.
Sean Dixon
Exactly.
Elliot Moss
Not with you but next time. I’m kind of sure, I’ll book an appointment.
Sean Dixon
Okay, next time will be. And I think if you, you know, if you make sure that person is included in that process, it’s a, it’s a great, it’s a really fascinating…
Elliot Moss
But detail.
Sean Dixon
Detail is very important. You know it’s all about buttons, lapel width, do you want belt loops, do you want…
Elliot Moss
Size of the pockets.
Sean Dixon
Angles of the pockets.
Elliot Moss
Very important.
Sean Dixon
How angled should they be, you know, it’s, pleats, blah, blah, blah, it goes on and on and on and it’s all about detail and if, if you start including someone in that process, it gives them kind licence and it makes them kind of committed to it, you know. And then they end up coming back and getting a little bit more interested, let’s try something else this time.
Elliot Moss
Fabulous. The only thing that’s constant, without using the cliché, is change and you set that business up in ’92, at that point London and the UK and a lot of the world was in a massive recession, it was, it was quite an, and I remember this, my dad was in retail at the time and unfortunately that business didn’t last, it was a sports shop in one of the suburbs of northwest London, didn’t make the cut as it were, and I remember the high street being decimated. Just thinking about that now and that decimation around Savile Row because it was similar, I mean the streets of London were not, were not paved with gold. What’s it like now?
Sean Dixon
God, it’s very different, Elliot, I think it’s completely, I mean we’re in a very privileged area, Mayfair doesn’t get much more exclusive than that but back then it felt a little bit tired and probably maybe our personal situation felt a little bit desperate, we…
Elliot Moss
Well, 10,000 quid.
Sean Dixon
£10,000 doesn’t go that far.
Elliot Moss
No.
Sean Dixon
Well it went, went a bit further than it does now but yeah you know you’re, you’re kind of sitting in a, sitting in a store with kind of fairly full of stock.
Elliot Moss
But isn’t there something interesting though about the, the world’s a bit grey, you know when the weather is bad, the world’s a bit grey, we’re going to inject, and a bit barren, we’re going to inject some fun and boldness into it. Was that a little bit do you think of what was going on back in ’92?
Sean Dixon
I’d like, I’d like to say yes, it probably, you know I…
Elliot Moss
Or am I just post-rationalising it brilliantly?
Sean Dixon
Yeah, I’ll go with that.
Elliot Moss
Cultural commentator. He’s the Peter York of his generation.
Sean Dixon
Yes, we, we, we wanted to make the world a better place. No, I, I, I, listen I think there was a bit of that, you know we wanted to just finally uplift what was going on around us and you know Savile Row at the time was a, you know had a fantastic, has a fantastic, still has a fantastic history, incredible legacy, it’s a unique place, there’s nowhere else like it in the world, whenever I, wherever I go for work, you know you can still talk about Savile Row, even the word for a suit in Japan is Savile Row, they’ve, you know it’s, it’s that is the definition of a two-piece suit, you know so it has resonance wherever you go but back then, it felt, I was intimidated, you know we had a store on Savile Row but I felt intimidated.
Elliot Moss
Were you?
Sean Dixon
Oh yeah, absolutely. It, it kind of, I felt like I needed to be asked to, if I could go in or, you know, and it was nerve-wracking.
Elliot Moss
What you literally, was it that you didn’t feel posh enough?
Sean Dixon
I definitely… it did feel like a place where you know old aristocrats would go and get their suits you know and, and they had their fathers and their grandfathers had done and actually, to an extent, it still is like that, that’s great.
Elliot Moss
Well I was going to say so now the new entrance, the new Richard James’ that are coming through, how do you, how do you meet and greet them?
Sean Dixon
Yeah, now, now it’s we’re all about being as relaxed and open as possible and I think that’s an important thing. When you, if you’ve never had a suit made or you’ve never even bought a suit, you know, it’s, it can be quite a daunting prospect, you’ve got to be as relaxed as possible and you’ve got to make that person feel as welcome as possible and that’s absolutely part of the process.
Elliot Moss
And the other, but the other tailors in the, in the area though when they come in, do you ever look and think ooh that’s just like we were a few years ago?
Sean Dixon
No, I think that, I think everyone’s changed a bit.
Elliot Moss
Okay.
Sean Dixon
I think it’s moved, I think things have moved on quite a bit and you know we’re actually, they like us down Savile Row, we’re all friends, you know, we…
Elliot Moss
I read somewhere, the new establishment.
Sean Dixon
We’re the new establishment, yeah.
Elliot Moss
You’ve got to be careful though, you…
Sean Dixon
We might be the old establishment if we carry on.
Elliot Moss
I was going to say, you don’t want to drop the word ‘new’ too fast do you.
Sean Dixon
Exactly. We’ll hang onto that.
Elliot Moss
Stay with me for my, yeah exactly, hang on to the new establishment for now. Stay with me for my final chat with Sean and we’ve also got some music from Ezra Collective, who are amazing aren’t they. That’s all coming up in just a moment, don’t go anywhere.
I read a story about Gianni Versace, I think, and Elton John, I think it was they came in and literally it was Supermarket Sweep, they went and bought everything and I think there was a conversation, maybe it was Richard or maybe you and Richard went, “I think we’re onto something here.” That sense of when it’s popped, how do you get to that, that sense that you’ve got the next set of, you know the next season’s clothes? Have you, how do you ensure that you’re going to get that buzz again?
Sean Dixon
God, that’s, that’s, yeah, I think, that, that particular, that was a moment for the business and you know I can’t remember the exact date but…
Elliot Moss
Quite early on actually.
Sean Dixon
Yeah, quite early on, quite early on, it didn’t feel like it, felt like I’d been going for twenty years at that point but Elton John brought Gianni Versace in with their respective partners and there were kind of 38, 40, 42, 44 chest, you know, and yeah, they just bought everything in the store and, and left and called up from the car and apologised for the mess they’d made and we were, you really don’t have to apologise, but yeah, we didn’t have much left. To go back to your question about how do you know? Every season, I start with the new collection coming in because we create collections on a seasonal basis, spring, summer, autumn, winter, and at the beginning I always have the fear that nothing’s going to sell.
Elliot Moss
Do you still have that fear?
Sean Dixon
Still have that fear. Every time, you know, you, you, you kind of think is it going to work this time?
Elliot Moss
Is the fear though, is it, is it stressful or is it exciting?
Sean Dixon
Erm, stressful.
Elliot Moss
Right.
Sean Dixon
Our overheads have become so much greater than they were back then.
Elliot Moss
It, it, the consequences of failure are getting higher.
Sean Dixon
Much higher. You know we have you know salaries to pay and people…
Elliot Moss
But you don’t, I mean, you don’t look stressed, Sean, unless you had black hair two weeks ago and now it’s gone grey but do you know what I mean, you haven’t got many lines and stuff like that so is there something about it or as much as it’s stressful, is it something you’ve either got used to or you kind of know is coming and you know how to deal with it?
Sean Dixon
I don’t know if you ever really, ever really, I guess I’ve been doing it for so long so I have an understanding of, of what to expect but no, I think you know it’s probably like being an actor and actress, you’re only as good as your last film, we’re only as good as our last collection and, and you know so there’s always that fear that it’s not going to, going to work but I, in terms of how to, we have a lot of other stresses and strains within the business that you just have to deal with and work through. It’s not that complicated what we do but also we need to make it elegant, desirable and enjoyable and those, I guess that’s, that’s, that’s kind of where the effort goes into you know.
Elliot Moss
And the pressures of sustainability, of sustainable you know creating, creating clothes that don’t…
Sean Dixon
Yeah, that’s the, the…
Elliot Moss
That must be a thing, is that something you’re interested in?
Sean Dixon
Yeah, I know, it’s becoming, it’s becoming bigger and bigger. I, I, I always say that you know a bespoke suit is probably about as sustainable…
Elliot Moss
Yeah, because there’s very little wastage, I guess.
Sean Dixon
There’s no wastage. It’s, it’s made for you, it’s made using usually very high quality wools…
Elliot Moss
Which lasts.
Sean Dixon
Whist lasts. The kind of old cliché about a Savile Row suit can last you a lifetime. It’s not a cliché, it is actually a fact, you know, unless you really change your shape and size but things can be altered for you and because there’s so much quality goes into it, it will last.
Elliot Moss
So that’s not a challenge that bothers you. What is the big thing that you think about that you go, this is existential to Sean and to Richard James? If there is anything and maybe there isn’t.
Sean Dixon
I, I, you know it’s difficult for me to answer that, it’s probably, as I said because since we started the business, everyone said what are you doing, doing tailoring, no one’s buying tailoring anymore, it’s not going to happen. Actually, the opposite keeps happening, so I do take that on board and think is anyone, during, during lockdown, during Covid…
Elliot Moss
Is anyone going to wear a suit again?
Sean Dixon
Is anyone ever going to wear a suit again?
Elliot Moss
Yeah, in my head I was kind of going it’s the casualisation of stuff like, trainers and a tracksuit.
Sean Dixon
Yes, yeah, that, that, you know during that time, I did have a few, speak to you know members of the press about that and I have to answer that question, be asked that question quite a lot but I always felt that it was going to be a reaction to the action and actually, there has been, there, there is, people are starting to wear shoes, real shoes, comfortable shoes again and turning, but also it’s part of our business to make whatever we do desirable, you know, that’s what we do, that’s what we have to do, we can’t just sit back and say okay, we’re going to make suits and you know you’ve got to buy them and you’ve got to reach an audience and somehow make them want them, so if it means that the, that the tailoring you produce is made more softer, more comfortable, more casual, more relaxed…
Elliot Moss
Then so be it.
Sean Dixon
Then so be it. We do that and but you can still absolutely, you know a suit makes a man look better, always, and I think you want to keep those elements with what you do, so you, you know, you want to look better and feel better and I think a suit does that.
Elliot Moss
And those should be the last words because that’s brilliant, you can, no one could have said that better. Thank you for your time today, Sean. Good luck with the new refurbished, wonderland that you’ve created, I hope it goes really well. I will come in, I will book an appointment.
Sean Dixon
Please do.
Elliot Moss
When there’s enough money in the bank. It’s not tomorrow but at some point very shortly and I do want to come in because I, I just love looking at beautiful things and there are lots of beautiful things to look at in Richard James. Just before I let you go, what’s your song choice and why have you chosen it?
Sean Dixon
It’s Love’s Theme by Love Unlimited Orchestra. In my younger days, we would refer to, you know, I used to run a clubs and do a bit of DJing, this was always the last song at the do of, well 2.00am or 2.30am, lights were going up, you’d see the detritus of what was before you and this always felt like a great song to end on, slightly upbeat but not too upbeat and you know, that’s why I like it. Plus also, what’s not to like about Love’s Theme?
Elliot Moss
I feel like we’re just wrapping up the Jazz Shapers 2.30am do. That was with Love Unlimited Orchestra, Love’s Theme, the song choice of my Business Shaper today, Sean Dixon. He talked about wanting with Richard to make the fashion world more interesting, make their brand more interesting. He reminded us that tailoring is a personal experience and that’s a really important thing to say in the contexts of anything that a business provides. It’s all about the detail and understanding the detail he said is at the heart of the Richard James brand but again, true for any business that wants to do well. And finally, that critical point about a world of fashion where things are mercurial, where things are constantly changing, we’re only as good as our last collection. Great stuff. That’s it from me and Jazz Shapers, have a lovely weekend.
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