The London Lounge

Hilditch have been selling their shirts through their website at a (very low) price of £30 for some while now, and there is not much to be had any more.

Today I received an email saying their Jermyn Street store is shut for a major refit. Does anybody know if they are in trouble, or is it just an updating process?

I used to order their shirts MTM from clothier WM Fox & Co. Sometime last year they started going through some major changes in which a new president took over and wanted to focus on a higher end market. They stopped communicating with my clothier and did not send a major shipment of shirts from a MTM event. Only time will tell how the major overhaul will play out.

It's about time they got their act together. The branch on the Piccadilly side is overloaded with stock and the staff never seem very clued up on their product and while pleasant , they really don't seem to "get" the product they're selling, though their window display is always inspiring. In contrast the South side shop seems a bit bleak and unwelcoming. A pity , as I think their range and quality are second only to Budd/T and A

I walked past today. The refit seems finished and the window display was very impressive. There was a freshness and elegance in it that's been lacking in Jermyn Street for a while. Bates has moved out and there's obviously more space allocated to the shirting side of the business.

I'd regarded Hilditch & Key as an also ran but I suspect they are going to give Budd and T&A a bit more competition. I'm certainly going to try and get over from the City during a lunch hour for a proper look.

Whilst on the subject of openings, closing and revamps.... the Old Broad Street outpost of Turnbull & Asser is gone. I can't say it's much of loss; as much as I love the Jermyn Street store the City branch was soulless and unwelcoming.

Man at C&A wrote:Bates has moved out

Do they have a separate shop now or just gone for good? If latter, what would happen with Binks the cat?!

Andrey

Dear Andrey,

Bates has moved to new premises on Jermyn Street.

Cheers, David

On the T&A shop on Old Street, I concur that it utterly lacked charm, especially compared to the lacquered wood warren on Jermyn Street. It was also invariably empty.

I was in the new Bates location just recently; it does better justice to their stock than the temporary premises kindly leased by H&K. I saw a rather splendid grey beaver felt trilby there but I'm afraid a bit out of my price range. Helpful, discreet staff there.

davidhuh wrote:Bates has moved to new premises on Jermyn Street.

David, thanks! -- good to know.

Andrey

The new H&K website has launched.

It looks as though they are trying to copy Lewin. Moody shots. Toilet bags. Socks.

Another one bites the dust.

The new shop looks nice, however, and Bates has a terrific spot at the end of the Arcade.

IMHO, as far from TMLewin as one can be...

They decided to go upmarket, and increased price of shirts to 155 pounds as a minimum! This is T&A / Emma Willis territory, and I'm not sure H&K will be able to successfully compete there... I pay just marginally more for bespoke shirts from Stephen Lachter.

Womenswear fully eliminated... Including their excellent pyjamas -- much to my wife's dismay!

Men's sleepwear as well... Price of ties increased as well -- right up to Drake's level. If standard of make remains the same, I wonder what are they thinking?!

Andrey

That explains why I was able to buy some Derek Rose pyjamas at a dirt cheap price from H&K recently.

Oh, and one more thing MiA: bespoke! What poor Karl Lagerfeld would do now?

(Perhaps it is just new web-site, and bespoke is alive and well in London and Paris shops?)

Andrey

I suppose my comment about Lewin was more to do with the moody marketing guff, pictues etc. and use of words like "designer" in the categories, rather than any notion of price.

H&K was a wonderful value at the old price point and ran up great shirts from the acorn and mason lines. The new mode is not exciting me.