Savoir Faire: Educate Your Style, Elevate Your Game
Of many terms that have survived intact their migration from French to English, 'Savoir Faire' is perhaps the most uniquely French, and certainly the most applicable to the soul of our brand. It refers to that bit of unspoken elegance, that difficult-to-pin-down element of poise and effortless style that the most admirable people in this world, at least in our opinion, seem to carry.
The product of many small lessons learned along the way, 'Savoir Faire' is both knowledge and sense: how to dress, how to speak, how to carry oneself. With consideration but not effort. With fashion but not flash. With eminent style and grace.
Our founder is famous for it - that ability to pull off any look, to own any room, to know the seemingly unknowable. Whatever "it" is, Mr. Daniel Crémieux has always had "it". Hence the reason, along with our proud French heritage, that we decided to call our editorial and event offerings by this Francophile name.
The raison d'etre of our Savoir Faire concept is twofold: First, to try and offer the same type of sage wisdom and paternal life advice, sartorial and otherwise, for which our founder and many of our own fathers remain renowned. And in doing so, to try and offer some guideposts to living a gentlemanly life.
Second, to help educate and enlighten our customers on what we feel are the most enchanting elements - design details, make, materials, provenance, inspiration - of the timeless items we produce. We believe the idea of 'value' in menswear centers more on what one is getting from what he buys, versus what he paid (or didn't pay) to buy it. That Old World line of thinking has gotten somewhat lost among the endless sales and special savings offers and coupon codes to which many today seem to have become accustomed if not outright addicted.
We, proudly, don't play in that realm. From our founding in 1976, we have considered ourselves gentleman outfitters - providing the well-appointed, thoughtful gentleman, who gives a damn how he presents, garments that will help paint him in the most considered, sharpest light possible. And to do so at a long-term value to him. We do so by making special garments, making them with meaning, and making them in a style that will remain tasteful and stylish for generations. And a quality to match.
For though the whims of fashion tend to change over generations, two elegant elements always seem to manage to stand the test of time: iconic, Preppy classics, like those in which we specialize, and the sartorial wisdom passed along by our fathers.
What those two elements come together to provide is that difficult to identify bit of taste, of situational wherewithal and general understanding of how to carry oneself, that the most stylish and admirable gentlemen among us seem to have in spades: Savoir Faire.
And though, like some garments in the classic Preppy canon, we tend to go stretches in equal measures under-appreciating and overlooking the contemporary applicability of some of those paternal principles (you'll be back soon, Cricket Sweater), their situational versatility tends to endure.
The beauty of this endurance, like the perfect patina on a favorite pair of wingtips or the meaningful nicks on an heirloom timepiece, is that wisdom itself develops character and improves over time, helping us lead wiser, more seasoned, more fulfilling lives ourselves. We benefit in the now, but it also creates the connective tissue which weaves together generations. As do our garments. What we aim to offer our customers is something that is truly special, and will remain special for years to come.
And that extends beyond the purchase to your entire experience with our brand and on our site. Whether it is an essay informing you on the origins of Houndstooth tweed in the overcoat in which you are about to invest, or enlightening you to the dual beauty/utility role of the cuffs on the Boat Chinos in your cart, or helping you understand how dressing for the weather means being prepared to keep not only yourself, but potentially your better half comfortable should the conditions turn frightful - we want to help give to you what our collective experience in this industry, and in life in general, has given us: the wisdom of our fathers. That hard-earned bit of Savoir Faire.
May you enjoy receiving it as much we we enjoy preparing and sharing it with you.