In this week’s Drapers you can read how our store manager Ahmed Khan has progressed so far at such a young age and has become an integral part of the Moss Bros Team. An inspiration from Moss Bros.

This week we caught up with our shirt buyer to find out what to expect from Moss this season and to give you an introduction to one of our new brands!

If you want any questions answering from our buyers then tweet us @mossbrostweet

How have you changed the shirt offering at Moss for this season?

Like the suits we have definitely moved to a younger trend led range. We have included different fits across all our ranges. We now have an option for tailored fit shirts in the Blazer range, Slim fit shirts in Ventuno and in Savoy Taylors Guild with extra added options.

We’ve also updated our non iron Dehavilland range, which is aimed at our more classic customers, with on trend stripes, semi plain and gingham designs.

How do you cater for all ages with our shirt ranges?

We aim to provide a wide range of brands at Moss, to ensure that all our customers can find exactly what they want.

For a customer who loves fashion and on trend shirts, look for our Ventuno 21 range, the shirts are all slim fit and a few extra slim!
You will find small checks and ginghams, a pin collar shirt, button down collars and bright poplin shirts.

For our customers who like to keep it simple, practical and traditional we offer Dehavilland (which are all easy iron) and Savoy Taylors Guild, where some options are available in slim fit. We also provide Ted Baker, exclusive French Connection and Calvin Klein for our fashion focused customers who are looking for a contempory simple designs.

What changes & introductions can we expect for AW12?

We will introduce our new Moss 1851 range, which will be crafted from luxurious cotton in plains and simple stripes. This range will be special to Moss as it will inherit 161 years of our tailoring experience and heritage. It will be the most premium range we offer.

To match our Blazer Performance range on suits we have created our ultimate Blazer Performance shirts. They are 100% cotton and non iron. They come in a tailored fit with a more contemporary style, which means you can go to work looking very smart and cool enough for going out after! They are super comfortable!

In AW12 you will also be seeing a lot of ‘heritage’ style shirts, from casual ginghams to stripes. These are to match the heritage jackets we have created along with the heritage style ties and bow ties.

Which brand or brands are you most excited about within the shirt range?

We are very exicted about our Blazer Casual range. We have fun floral prints, stipes and large gingham’s. Perfect for your casual Friday out fit!


What is your favourite shirt in stock at the moment?

The French Connection Mini Gingham Navy shirt. I love this shirt! Its the small gingham detail, it looks smart for the office, especially when teamed with a navy Ventuno skinny tie. Or un-do the top button and team with jeans for a smart casual day look. It is 100% cotton, tailored fit, and has a smaller contempory collar.

What is your number 1 office essential?

The Ted Baker Quilted Document Bag. This men’s bag is perfect for an everyday work bag, it’s on trend and really practical especially when travelling around the city with all your notes.

Do you want to win 2 tickets to the National Wedding Show? All you need to do is sent us your name, wedding date and preferred show location to yourmoments@moss.co.uk.

The locations available for the show are: Earls Court in London & The NEC in Birmingham.

When it comes to wearing a tie most people just use the standard knot they learnt at school. When you start to wear ties at work or for special occasions then the old school knot will just not do! A half windsor knot will leave you looking smart, stylish and confident.

We’ve put together 6 simple steps on how to tie the perfect half windsor knot.

With the summer drawing to a close and the winter slowly starting to draw in we’ve decided to give you an inside look into our new Blazer quilted jacket range.

Quilted jackets are this winters jacket of choice amongst the men of Great Britain, fashionable, warm and versatile being the reasons why so many people choose to wear this jacket in the winter months.

If you think quilted jackets are just for country men with a shot gun cocked over their arm then your truely mistaken, we’ve seen the quilted jacket worn in the city over suit jackets, paired with chinos & casual shirts and even over tshirts and polo shirts.

The range has kept true to classic styling of the quilted jacket with cord collars & elbow patches and button fastening. This seasons colour choices are black, olive and navy all the core colours to match with your wardrobe.

Keep your eyes peeled for our limited edition red quilted jacket coming into stores and online soon!

If you want to keep on trend then we suggest matching your quilted jacket with our new Ted Baker quilted document bags in black & khaki.

This week we caught up with our suit buyer to give you an insight in to what’s happening at Moss HQ & to answer some of the questions you’ve wanted to ask.

How have the suits at Moss Bros changed over the past few seasons?

Our mens suits have definitely got younger. We have seen a growing interest for suits from a younger age range, demanding fashionable cloths and fits. Inevitably, silhouettes have got slimmer in our range to meet these expectations. It’s great to see lads as young as 16 now wearing suits and as important to us as the more traditional gent who buys from us.

How do we cater for all ages with our suit ranges?


We stock a wide range of brands to serve the diverse range of customers who buy from us. For the consumer who appreciates fashion, we stock the Ventuno 21 range which is a skinny fit silhouette in modern looking cloths. These suits are designed with extra detailing. Furthermore we stock brands like CK, French Connection and Ted Baker doing similar jobs. For the classic customer, brands like Dehavilland and Savoy Taylors Guild provide a more generous fit in traditional time honoured cloths.

Finally, for the customer who is a sartorial elitist, we stock a range of Cerruti cloth & Zegna cloth suits as well as the Moss 1851 brand which are made from some of the finest suiting cloths available.



What changes can we expect for AW12?

More direction towards fashion, in particular British heritage looks. A lot more has gone into the products in terms of better cloth qualities such as super 100s and design integrity. We wanted to make sure you cannot get better value for money when comparing us to any other retailer who sells suits.

Which brand or brands are you most excited about within the suit range?

Ventuno 21. It does a completely different job to any other suit range in our stores and entices the younger guys to buy into it, we have introduced colourful patterned linings to break away from the normal plain linings available on the High Street, we have also introduced pull out pocket hankies that can be tucked in or out of the breast pocket, these elements make Ventuno such a unique brand. Moss 1851 as it is the best of what we do. This range really represents what traditional craftsmanship is all about with half canvas horse hair construction, working cuffs, horn buttons and hand finished details.

What is your favourite suit in stock at the moment?

Our French Connection grey textured suit with a wine spot lining. An updated and Fantastic heritage look from one of our leading designer brands.

What’s your number 1 office essential?

Accent socks. These can add personality to any conservative office dress code without raising too many eyebrows, especially if you can match them to a tie.


 

Our accessories have really come in to a life of their own over the last season, we’ve extended some core product and added some new exciting lines! This week we caught up with our accessories buyer to give you an insight into what’s happening at Moss HQ & we threw some of our customers questions at her too!

What was your goal or target for the accessories department when you first arrived at Moss?

My initial ideas involved bringing in some colour and fashionability to the accessories ranges. We had been running several of our lines for a couple of seasons now and whilst I didn’t want to fix anything that wasn’t broken, I definitely saw potential to update certain pieces and to bring in a fresh new handwriting which would lift the collection overall.

Can our customers expect to see a change in the future of the accessories department in stores?

This year we have had fantastic growth on several of the non-clothing departments and in order to potentialize on that we are really concentrating on the visual merchandising of the new products in store. We have updated many of our in house brands with new packaging and are trying to make the accessories ranges in store really stand out using clever display methods and in house styling.

What can we expect to see in the AW12 collection?

Lots and lots of new exciting products! In September we will be launching a new range of £7 polyester pocket squares under the Ventuno brand. These are really vibrant in colour and are a cheap and easy way to update a plain coloured suit. Our range of nine designs include some oversized graphic prints such as hounds-tooth, tile prints and a black and white baroque print (which is actually my favourite!) We are also introducing some new cufflinks under the STG brand in polished enamel and gold which we hope will really lift the range and offer something different from our competitors.

                

Do you feel our collection has something for everybody?

I think so. We are very conscious that some of our customers have been loyal to us for years so we still want to cater to their tastes with our Dehavilland and Savoy Tailors Guild brands. The Ventuno and Blazer range targets our more fashion forward and contemporary customers and in terms of bringing in newness to the brands, this is probably where most of the potential lies.

 
What are your favourite pieces in our current collection?

I really like our floral printed casual shirts that arrived in stores about six weeks ago. Despite the UK having a pretty miserable summer so far weather wise, these shirts are a great way of adding a splash of fun to an outfit and can be dressed up with some smart skinny jeans for a night out.


What one accessory would you recommend to wear at a black tie event to stand out from the crowd?

A jazzy printed pocket handkerchief or bow tie. Bow ties are going to be huge this season and we have some really fab printed styles on Ventuno launching at the end of September. If you had to pick one office essential what would it be. A well fitting crisp double cuff white shirt. We have all of our key shirt styles in white across our in-house brands, offering a range of fits and finishes to cater for all occasions. It is a great blank canvas that can be smartly accessorized with a tie and cufflinks for the office, or dressed down with jeans or chinos for a smart-casual weekend look.

If James Bond is your cup of tea or if you admire the fashion influence and suave styling of 007 & his associates then you should check out the current ‘Designing 007’ exhibition at the Barbican.

EON productions will be showcasing unprecedented access to their expansive archives allowing the public access to the development of the ‘Bond’ style over the last 50 years.

The exhibition will give you the chance to see how the costumes, tailoring, special effects, cars, villains, stunt and props have all been crafted. It’s most men’s dream to get close to the cars and gadgets featured in all the Bond films so its definitely an event you won’t want to miss!

If you fancy a drink on the day there will be a Martini Bar with cocktail makers to either make your drink shaken or stirred! The major highlights of this event include a talk with gadgets and weapons creator John Stears and special effect expert Chris Corbould.

Also on display will be all the lavish outfits by Hollywood costume designers and fashion labels like Giorgio Armani, Roberto Cavalli, Tom Ford, Gucci, Prada and Donatella Versace (so at least the wife won’t get bored!)

The exhibition is on until the 5th of September; open Sunday – Wednesday 11am – 8pm & Thursday 10am – Saturday 9.30pm. We’ve been told that advanced booking is strongly advised.

Under 16’s get in for £8 & Adults £12.

This is our latest happy customer at Moss Bespoke in Blomfield Street, London.

He’s looking classically sharp in his fully bespoke double breasted suit. The cloth is from our British Alfred Brown range, he’s gone for the 100% wool Prince of Wales Check with a slim leg with turn ups, fully working cuffs and mother of pearl buttons. All these small touches make a perfect suit even better. Our Alfred Brown Cloth comes from the rolling hills of Yorkshire, milled by the next generation of the Brown family.

If you’re going to choose a Prince of Wales Check like this then make sure the lining you choose compliments the colour of the cloth, although its hard to see this cloth has a light blue line running through the checks, our customer has gone for the pale blue lining to compliment this.