On Tuesday, March 9^th, 2010 I had the pleasure of personally welcoming Rob Gray into the Robert Graham Collector's Club. Customer's join this exclusive club when they own over 100 Robert Graham shirts.  At this milestone, Robert Graham designer, Robert Stock, creates a shirt specifically for you and names the shirt after you.  

I presented Rob with his Robert Graham shirt and a special plaque welcoming him into the club.  Rob is way beyond the 100 shirt mark; this new shirt makes 212 Robert Graham shirts hanging in his closet!

Click here to see it all unfold.  

Pink Tartan is a collection of beautifully-made, practical clothes that can take women from day to dinner.  The line is designed by Canadian Kimberley Newport-Mimran, who is also the Co-Founder and President of Pink Tartan.

This weekend Pam Cook from Pink Tartan was in-store with lots of additional Spring 2010 goods and she's agreed to leave them with us for the week.  So if you didn't get a chance to come down to the store on Saturday, there is still time to come in and check things out.

To hear more about Pink Tartan and the Spring 2010 Collection, direct from Pam, click here .

I stopped by the Robert Graham booth to say hello to Robert Stock while at PROJECT in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago. Robert is the designer, founder and sole owner of the Robert Graham brand.  Larger than life personally, and as creative a shirt man as I've ever met, Robert has many industry admirers (including me), a lot of whom wormed their way into the booth to meet Robert and check out Fall/Winter 2010.

I asked Robert to speak, on video, about his Robert Graham Collector's Club.  This special club is for customers who own 100 or more Robert Graham shirts.  Once in that elite group, Robert designs a special shirt that he names after the collector and presents that collector with a special, commemorative plaque.

There is now a first ever Canadian inductee, Mr. Rob Gray, a long time customer of the store. There's soon to be a small, in-store happening to present him with the plaque and one of his eponymous shirts, and details of that will posted on the website and blog in the next couple of weeks. At that time, we'll release the balance of the Rob Gray Shirts to be sold on a first come basis.

Meantime, click here to meet Robert Stock.

As President of the Fashion Senate Group, a national association of high end boutiques like Philip Nyren Ltd., I was approached by the Canadian Italian Trade Commissioner, requesting me to meet with a group of Italian apparel makers who were showing as a group at the MRket show in Las Vegas last week.  There I was introduced to every manufacturer present, which was very interesting indeed.  At the Marcoliani hosiery booth, I had a chance to meet and talk to Paolo Gatti, the CEO of Marcoliani socks. 

Marcoliani has a great story.  In 1947, in Brianza, a region of Italy stretching from Milan to Lake Como, Giuseppe Gatti bred silkworms in a loft and sold cocoons to silk mills.  A family friend named Marculian, found work for Guiseppe at a sock factory, where he learned the trade of sock making.  A few years later, relying on his newly gained experience, he set up his own sock factory.  Now, 60 years later, his children Erminia, Paolo and Carlo continue the family tradition of making socks in Italy.

British Importers, and now Philip Nyren, have been carrying Marcoliani socks for years.  They offer an excellent fit, they wash well and they feel great on your foot.  I personally wear Marcoliani socks, as do our Menswear Sales Associates and I invite you to come in and try a pair (if you haven't already).

Click here to hear to view a video clip and to hear more about Marcoliani from Paolo Gatti, son of Guiseppe Gatti, and CEO of Marcoliani socks.