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RIP The Weekly News

Sunday, April 26th, 2020

My first job in journalism was as a trainee reporter on The Weekly News. I lasted for five and a half months of a six-month probation period in 1978 before being sacked without any warning. It was a bit of a blow at the time.

The owner of The Weekly News, the Dundee-based D C Thomson, has just announced that the title is to close after 165 years. It is another victim of the decline in print journalism but I am surprised it lasted as long as it did.

Unless you were brought up in the north of England or Scotland in the pre-1980s era, there’s a good chance you’d have never seen or heard of The Weekly News. It was hugely popular in those regions, however, with the working classes, especially women. It belonged to a group of now-generally-forgotten general interest publications such as Reveille, Titbits and Weekend, which were weekly magazines of entertainment.

The Weekly News was by far the most “respectable”. It was wholesome, traditional and conservative, rather like D C Thomson itself.

The company was privately-owned, very secretive and notoriously did not recognise unions. The story went that the Thomson family was offended when some of their workers walked out during the General Strike of 1926, so they were to have no truck with unions after that. The family was said to be so staunchly Protestant that it would not hire Roman Catholics. I don’t know if that is entirely true, but I was asked my religion and my political persuasion at my interview. I was C of E, so that was fine. I probably said I was not interested in politics.

After unsuccessfully applying to many publishers to get a start in journalism, I was advised by a pal from university, David Belcher, who was working for The Weekly News in Glasgow, to write to the company, famously predicting: “If they don’t take you, no one will.” I duly was summoned from London to an interview in distant Dundee – the company paid for my train and overnight hotel – and was subjected to the equivalent of a speed-dating session as I was interviewed very briefly by representatives from some of its many titles, such as The Sunday Post, People’s Friend, Dundee Courier, People’s Journal, Jackie and even Beano and Dandy. I was delighted when I was offered a position on The Weekly News in D C Thomson’s Fleet Street office.

The centre of D C Thomson’s powerful and influential universe was Dundee, which had by far its biggest office. The Glasgow office was a decent size. The Manchester one was smaller and its London one was the smallest, with perhaps about 20 journalists at most plus advertising and other staff. The facade of the building, carrying beautifully-rendered names of four of its titles, is still there, It caused much amusement to employees that the offices stretched above a religious book shop called The Protestant Truth Society. Quite.

The business was run on the strict hierarchic lines that were common at the time, which meant that me as the untrained newcomer was on the bottom rung. The editor was a somewhat crusty Scotsman called David Norrie or Mr Norrie to the likes of me. The popular belief was he was so disliked by his Scottish colleagues that he was exiled to the furthest outpost of the empire. The day-to-day running of the journos was left to the deputy editor, a very nice and supportive Cockney chap called Sam, whose surname I cannot recall. Sam, who’d been aircrew on RAF bombers during World War II, was extremely patient with beginners like me.

The workload – by modern standards and by what I experienced later – was incredibly light. Unbelievably, we had a fixed break for coffee in the morning and one for tea in the afternoon. No one ever worked late as far as I knew. Mr Norrie dashed out at 4.57pm every day to catch his train home and the rest of us departed promptly three minutes later, sometimes to a local pub.

The work comprised mainly or reading lots of local papers to spot a story that would suit our family-oriented stance (so nothing about sex, politics, suicide or other unpleasantness of that type). Then we’d track down the subject via the local paper or telephone directory enquiries – remember them? – and bash out on the typewriter a short newsy piece. I was far too lowly to be asked to write a feature. That was left to the likes of Simon Cornes (later a BBC local radio host and station manager), Mike Burton (who was destined to edit the public service title Municipal Journal) and Kitty Corrigan (who was for many years deputy editor of Country Living).

After a while I was judged advanced enough to be given the Police Flash column to compile. This was a weekly time-consuming task that involved me calling police press officers around the country looking for stories about very large heists or very curious ones. Again, nothing involving violence or unpleasantness was required. Sometime I struck lucky and got five stories with relatively few calls, but usually I was scraping the barrel by the end of a long day on the ‘phones.

Sadly, my wardrobe choices did not sit well with Mr Norrie. I was in my Humphrey Bogart stage and dressed almost exclusively in retro styles from charity shops. Twice he called me over to his desk to “have a wee word”. The first time was because I was wearing braces on my vintage high-rise trousers. “You’ll best be wearing a waistcoat or keeping your jacket on if you are wearing braces, especially as there’s lassies in the office,” he told me quietly. I thought he was joking but soon realised he was serious.

The second time the problem was my collarless “grandad” shirt. This time the editor asked me what I would do if I was suddenly called to Buckingham Palace to interview the Queen for The Weekly News. I thought such an occurrence was highly unlikely, but didn’t say so and promised to wear a shirt and tie in future.

And so it came to pass that on a Friday afternoon at about 4.45pm I was asked to go down to a different floor to see the general manager of the office, whose existence was news to me. My sacking was quick. Nothing personal, but they did not think “I was on the wavelength of the paper”. I was being given two weeks’ notice but as I’d obviously want to look for another position, I needn’t come into the office again. They handed me my P45. The execution had taken barely five minutes.

I was so shocked that I couldn’t tell my friends in the office what had happened for fear of bursting into tears. So I went home and burst into tears. I did return on Monday, partly to say goodbye to everyone, but mainly so that my pal Rob would not get landed with the dreaded Police Flash ring round. My colleagues were astonished by the news and to their eternal credit a few, led by journo “head boy” Simon Cornes, remonstrated with Mr Norrie that I had been unfairly treated to have been kicked out without any previous warning. No matter, that Monday was my last day.

Coincidentally enough, the only job I could get some months later that was vaguely connected with journalism was to be a seasonal public relations officer with Butlin’s, which was a regular advertiser in The Weekly News.

It was funny too that I made my career writing about clothing when that was what possibly did for me at D C Thomson. RIP The Weekly News. Honestly, it was fun while it lasted.

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2000: A new editor at Drapers Record

Tuesday, April 14th, 2020

Twenty years ago this week I took up the role of editor-in-chief of Drapers Record and its stablemate Menswear.

Although this was an unexpected – and unsought – career move for me, the April 15 2000 i marked the start of a memorable adventure lasting five and half years during which time the current incarnation of Drapers as a pan-fashion industry title was devised and launched under my editorship.
At the time Drapers Record and Menswear were part of the B2B magazines empire of Emap plc , specifically in a division called Emap Fashion. I had been working for Emap since 1996, but I had moved from magazines. I had been on the Events team for a couple of years, running the mainstream menswear fair MXL, an undistinguished exhibition greatly overshadowed by its cool casualwear cousin 40°.

I was enjoying my job and I had no desire to go back into journalism and when my boss, Emap Fashion’s deputy managing director Neshat Ahmed, called me in for an urgent meeting I actually thought she was going to sack me to save the company a bit of money.

But no. I was being “volunteered” (ie ordered) to take control of the great cash cow Drapers Record (aka DR) and its little brother, which just ticked over financially. DR had lost its way with the industry, its reputation was in decline and its revenues were declining. That was not good news for Emap. The 20-or-so-strong team (see the “flannel panel” of personnel here) was demoralised and the previous editor had left rather abruptly at the company’s request.

My brief was to get DR back on track ASAP and to set it and Menswear up so they could be merged to create one title to serve the entire fashion industry. My partner – also my publisher and my boss – in this enterprise was Sarah Cookson, who knew her way round a financial spreadsheet from her background in advertising sales. A Lancashire lass teamed up with a Yorkshire bloke – Sarah and I turned out to be a proper Northern powerhouse. As a reader, I had been particularly irked by DR’s clumsy design. I hated the masthead, with the two words of Drapers Record rendered in different colours. It was a very popular and to my mind pointless design trend at the time. I hated the masthead bar that turned the cover’s portrait shape into something like a square, thereby limiting its visual impact.

And I really hated the horrible mix of ugly typefaces, random coloured letters, colour tints, blobs and other paraphernalia that clogged the news pages in particular. Improving this mess without going a full redesign, with the expert assistance of art editor Alan Bingle, was a high priority for me.

Within four issues putting Drapers Record in just one colour on the mast head made a huge improvement in my eyes.

The great leap forward came with the fifth issue I directed, dated May 27, on which, thanks to Alan Bingle’s efforts, the bar on the cover disappeared and the pages were much cleaner and packed more info on to them instead of wasting space with design “effects”.

Another important change in the May 27 2000 issue was the addition of a photograph of me in the weekly “Drapers Record says” opinion column. I was against the cult of the journalist with the picture byline – the words were more important than who wrote them, I believed – but my boss Sarah Cookson argued correctly that Drapers Record needed a personality, a “face”, with whom readers could identify and that face was going to be mine.

Another issue I remember is from 22 July 2000 when I unveiled my new and soon-to-be-famous spex to the Drapers Record community. From Kirk Originals in Covent Garden, they became my trademark as “That man from Drapers”.

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Blazing away with Kathryn Sargent Bespoke

Sunday, March 29th, 2020

When life gets back to some sort of normality I’ll be very pleased to give the first outing of 2020 to my splendid striped blazer, made for me last year by Kathryn Sargent Bespoke Tailoring.

It uses a 60:40 wool:cotton 410gm (14oz) cloth from the blazer bunch by Abraham Moon I deliberately picked colours that suggested the away strip of Leeds United, making this something of a Leeds joint effort as I am from Leeds, so is Kathryn and the Moons mill is in Guiseley, just on the edge of my home city.

With such a bold cloth and classic style, there was no need for fancy touches but I did like the coloured undercollar and the blue lining we went for.

It was a treat to wear my “Leeds” blazer when giving a few talks on my book Leeds Then And Now and signing copies in Waterstones in the city. I was very pleased to see the book in the window alongside titles celebrating LUFC’s centenary.

 

As always, working with Kathryn Sargent and her assistant cutter Alistair Nimmo, plus her skilled tailors, was a delight. The inspiration for my blazer was an old one I acquired from a charity shop in the late 1970s. The new one is far better made!

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Sharp Suits, the third edition

Friday, March 13th, 2020

Idris Elba is the dapper chappie on the cover of the latest edition of Sharp Suits, my photographic celebration of men’s tailoring. Published again by those nice people at Pavilion, it follows the earlier editions of 2009 and 2013.

My history of the suit from about 1860 onwards is really well-presented, with the many vintage images, like this classic one of Cary Grant, looking fabulous in the punchy orange setting.

This time the foreword has been written by my good friend Kathryn Sargent, the renowned Savile Row master tailor, who has a tremendous knowledge of the bespoke craft. Thanks for the insights, Kathryn! (Kathryn has made me some beautiful clothes, but funnily enough, not yet a suit!).

The superbly-produced hardback book contains more than 150 images. Among the new ones for this third editon is this one of George, Duke of Kent and his wife Princess Marina of Greece, possibly London’s most glamorous couple of the pre-World War II era. (Pic credit: Alamy History and Art Collection).

Continuing my desire to include rarely-seen photographs, in the chapter headed Passion From Paris I have added this fascinating image of Karl Lagerfeld from 1954, shortly after the German designer had settled in the French capital for a career that lasted until his death in 2019. (Pic credit: Getty/Keystone/Stringer).

Politicians of all hues tend these days to be boring or terrible dressers, so I was pleased to find this image of US President Ronald Reagan in a fine checked two-piece suit strolling with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1982. (Pic credit: Reuters Pictures/Mal Langsdon).

Sharp Suits is available internationally wherever good books are sold. Enjoy the tailoring inspiration.

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The Place London Men’s

Saturday, April 22nd, 2017

Central London has lost more independent shops than any other part of the country in recent years, so it’s a thrill to see a new and interesting men’s fashion store like The Place London Men’s open.

It comes with a great pedigree as it is the creation of Simon Burstein, whose family built Browns of South Molton Street into one of world’s leading high-fashion boutiques. The men’s shop sits next door to Simon’s The Place London for women and is aimed at “the boyfriend of the girl next door”.

The men’s selection is a tempting mixture of high-quality basics and quirky pieces for a man who doesn’t mind being noticed. The “in house” label is Leathersmith of London, which is derived from a British diary, luxury and accessory brand that Simon discovered around the turn of the millennium in Fortnum & Mason. In 2015 he acquired the Charfleet Book Bindery on Canvey Island, Essex, where each Leathersmith item is handmade by people who clearly know what they are doing.

In the neat 700sq ft shop those classic leathergoods are augmented by an extensive range of unique designs under the Leathersmith of London brand, which includes cotton T-shirts at £20, cotton shirts at around £125, slim-cut poplin pants at £155, cashmere-silk crew neck sweaters at about £305 and a wool double-breasted blazer at £590. Shoes are around £330. The transactional website is here.

Other brands on offer are Brady, the Walsall-based bag manufacturer, and Lardini, the Italian tailoring specialist, whose desirable reversible camel hair coat (£990) is seen here.

I really liked the concept and the clothes and accessories Simon has brought together. He has been able to devote himself to this venture since Browns was acquired by luxury online site Farfetch in May 2015. He says: The Place London Men’s is a project I am hugely passionate about; it combines craftsmanship, technology with a strong fashion element, producing a hand-picked range of timeless products.”

I can recommend a visit: The Place London Men’s, 31 Connaught Street, London W2 2AZ

 

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Croots England. Made in Yorkshire. Seen at Pitti Uomo 91

Sunday, January 29th, 2017

Foreign trade fairs, curiously enough, are a great place to catch up with old British friends and to discover new UK-based manufacturers. So it proved at Pitti Immagine Uomo this month when I made contact for the first time with Allistair Croot, director of Croots England.

The brand was created six years ago. It is based at a small factory in North Yorkshire that was set up in 1978 by the family of Allistair’s wife, Jackie. The old business concentrated on making bags and similar accessories for the hunting-shooting-fishing sector and while Croots England still is a market leader in the premium level of that category, in its new guise it has added a city line, aimed at stylish metropolitan consumers.

The collection comprises about 50-60 products ranging from a credit card holder at £60 to a full-leather overnight bag at about £750. Laptop and document cases at around £500-£600 are among the top sellers. Canvas bags are around £350-£400. Belts are about £80.

All the products are made in the production unit in Malton, North Yorkshire, which has 15 employees, many of them women. The raw materials are either Italian vegetable-tanned leathers or bridle leather that is waxed and finished in the UK.

Showing at Pitti Uomo for several seasons has given Croots a useful network of international stockists, but most of its business on the city line in the UK is done on its efficient ecommerce site. Croots England is well worth a look if you like premium UK-made goods.

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Christopher Raeburn for Save The Duck at Pitti Uomo 91

Sunday, January 29th, 2017

Having finished his stint as creative director of Swiss-based Victorinox, British designer Christopher Raeburn has put in a shift with an Italian brand called Save The Duck. Based in Milan, the company avoids the use of feathers, fur, leather and hides, choosing instead synthetic materials and fillings. The autumn-winter 17 collection was presented at Pitti Uomo in an intriguing tableau featuring six models stationary on plinths. Changing images from nature were projected on to them, producing a simple but hypnotic effect.

 

Selections from the collection were available for examination – I liked this camo jacket and detachable inner lining.

And Christopher Raeburn was on hand, being his usual charming self.

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Z Zegna at Pitti Uomo 91

Sunday, January 29th, 2017

I am often perplexed about how fashion brands present their new collections to the press. Often we have to deal with just a few items, shown in unhelpful moody lighting, and too regularly placed where one cannot feel the fabric or examine the garments. No such complaints could be levelled at Z Zegna at Pitti Uomo.

The sporty casual line from the Ermenegildo Zegna stable was presented in its own large self-contained stand. We were able to walk among the many mannequins and get our hands on the clothes, which were designed by Alessandro Sartori, the group’s creative director.

There was a retro-ski vibe about the collection and this was echoed in some of the supporting visuals. 

As usual with Z Zegna (it’s pronounced Zee Zen-ya and appears not to have its own website), this was a luxurious and technical collection. Not a lot of it appealed to me personally, but I was very impressed by the entire presentation. Other fashion brands, please note.

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Johnstons of Elgin at Pitti Uomo 91

Sunday, January 29th, 2017

Regular readers of this blog will know I am a long-time admirer of Johnstons of Elgin. At the Pitti Uomo show in Florence this month a new direction for the Scottish firm was revealed by design chief Alan Scott, who is in creative charge of the woven, knitted and ready-to-wear ranges. These autumn-winter 17 styles are an impressive way of helping celebrate the 220th anniversary of the business this year.

These tweeds are typical of Johnston’s look, and are very soft and luxurious, with an appropriately soft construction to the garments.

The cashmere knitwear is of typical high-quality, reflecting the investment the firm has made in new machinery in its plant in Hawick. I love the punchy orange shade of the cardigan.

The heavy-gauge chunky knitted scarves in cashmere and merino were eye-catching and will give consumers a way to buy into what will be a premium-priced range.

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PS by Paul Smith at Pitti Uomo 91

Sunday, January 29th, 2017

Sir Paul Smith was, as usual, in much demand from his fans and admirers at the lively launch of his PS by Paul Smith sub-brand at Pitti Immagine Uomo 91 on 11 January. 

Bathed in peculiar but warming pink light, I took the chance to catch up with my lovely friend Maria Huntsig, features editor of Sportswear International, who has the dubious pleasure of editing my features for that fine publication. (See pages 64-67 and 78-79 in the digital version of SI 277 for my latest contributions)

Sir Paul promised that the presentation would be “very high energy” and he was as good as his word. Some very talented dancers and gymnasts showed off the “functional fabrics and intelligent design features” of the PS range in a series of sometimes incredible displays, none of which will I be trying at home.

On a historical note, Paul Smith was the first guest designer to be invited to make a presentation at Pitti Uomo, back in 1993. Such presentations are a regular part of the Pitti schedule these days.

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