{"id":167,"date":"2013-02-20T12:14:35","date_gmt":"2013-02-20T09:14:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.keikari.com\/english\/?p=167"},"modified":"2013-06-03T12:07:37","modified_gmt":"2013-06-03T09:07:37","slug":"interview-with-simon-crompton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.keikari.com\/english\/interview-with-simon-crompton\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Simon Crompton"},"content":{"rendered":"

“[I’m]\u00a030, journalist. I have spent my career running and editing several business-to-business magazines, all multimillion-pound titles in revenue. I am currently editor of Managing Intellectual Property, which is the world\u2019s biggest magazine on patents, trade marks and copyright. \u00a0I was educated at Trinity College, Oxford, where I studied PPE (philosophy, politics and economics).\u00a0I\u2019m married with two young daughters. Fortunately my wife isn\u2019t a big fan of clothes. I think we can only afford one in the family. My parents also live in London and are retired. My father was a management consultant. I have a brother and a sister, who work in advertising and asset management respectively.<\/p>\n

[I became interested in clothes] when I first started being paid enough to spend money on suits, I think. I wanted to know why designer, made to measure and bespoke suits were more expensive. A geeky side to my personality took over and began burrowing into the detail. It hasn\u2019t stopped.\u00a0Books and websites are great, but far better are personal contacts. I am fortunate to know most of the master tailors in London now, as well as shoemakers, shirtmakers, tie makers etc. And I have watched every aspect of them being made, including visiting factories around the UK and Europe. There\u2019s nothing like a factory visit. You see rather than being told; there\u2019s none of the PR bullshit of shops and branding \u2013 you can\u2019t hide anything in a factory.<\/p>\n

[My personal style is] English style sold to the Italians. A phrase I unashamedly steal from Michael Drake. When Italians try to dress like the English, they strip away all the gimmicks or \u2018eccentricities\u2019 and reveal what we do best \u2013 simple, classic clothing for every walk of life. The English look has dominated the world of tailoring and high-end menswear ever since Marie Antoinette took to country living. And rightly so. [My tailors are] many, these days. It\u2019s frustrating going to a new tailor and trying to get your pattern just right, but the curiosity in me always overcomes that. The tailors I go back to time and again are Anderson & Sheppard, Cifonelli, Rubinacci and Graham Browne. For different things and different values, but they are all superb.<\/p>\n

[I founded Permanent Style] to stop boring my friends. That was how it started five years ago. Men may want to know the geeky details of how a suit is made \u2013 and practical advice on how to wear a sports jacket with jeans \u2013 but they rarely want to ask and the answers can be long and a little tiresome. So I started writing down my findings. I also like to think Permanent Style features better writing \u2013 more rigour, more detail, more practical advice and less PR \u2013 than any men\u2019s magazine out there.<\/p>\n

[My site’s popularity] funds my buying habits, which my wife appreciates, and has enabled those to grow. I also get recognised in some odd places. Like Peckham Rye high street, or law firm elevators. Probably most importantly, it has enabled me to help lots of companies I love with online strategy, write for them, and encouraged publishers to back me in writing books. My first of these is out now (Le Snob: Tailoring), my second based on factory visits will be completed next year and we are in talks on a third. That has been very satisfying. As easy as it may be to self-publish these days, there\u2019s something very substantial about having written a book.<\/p>\n

[Interests beyond style are] none. I don\u2019t have the time or the money. No, seriously, fiction, films and road cycling are the only ones I\u2019ve been able to hang on to after the blog and the kids.”<\/p>\n

Mr Crompton’s advice for those seeking wardrobe changes:<\/p>\n

“1 Invest in quality. It\u2019s very frustrating when you start but as good things last longer, your wardrobe accelerates as you get older rather than standing still. It\u2019s also satisfying to know you are pushing against the global greed of replacement and waste.<\/span><\/div>\n

2 Try to have suits, at least jackets, cut for you. Don\u2019t worry too much about the quality of the make, but hand cutting makes the biggest difference. And spend more on shoes.<\/p>\n

3 Start by dressing simply. As personal as style might be, every style icon in history has agreed on several things. And one of them is that dressing with well-informed discretion is the base to any personal aesthetic.<\/p>\n

4 You have to wear clothes to feel comfortable in them. Hats are a classic example. No one feels comfortable the first time they wear one, because nobody else is doing so. But the third day you wear it, it will feel natural. And practical.”<\/p>\n

www.permanentstyle.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Simon_Crompton_interview_at_Keikari_dot_com_picture_by_Tommy_Ton\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Picture: \u00a9 Tommy Ton for GQ, featuring Luca Rubinacci (left) and Simon Crompton (right)<\/p>\n

Mr Crompton’s unique site can be found at\u00a0http:\/\/www.permanentstyle.co.uk\/<\/a><\/p>\n

~ Originally published in Finnish on the 9th of October 2011<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“[I’m]\u00a030, journalist. I have spent my career running and editing several business-to-business magazines, all multimillion-pound titles in revenue. I am …
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