Duchamp London

HOLT RENFREW INTERVIEW

Holt Renfrew: Do you think accessories and furnishings can transform the way men feel about themselves?

Marc Psarolis: Yes. With Duchamp, there is definitely a feel-good factor. We want the men we dress to feel that they’ve made that little bit more of an effort.

I know myself, through years of travelling around the world, what a great feeling it is when someone, out of the blue, starts chatting about my attire in a complimentary way.

HR: Who is the Duchamp man?
MP: Everyone from brain surgeons to barristers to celebrity TV talk show hosts to the normal everyday guy. I think they all have a blast when they wear Duchamp and a little piece of eccentricity comes out, whether you’re 25 or 75. Ultimately, he is a strong individual who appreciates eclecticism, craves quality and cares about the image he projects.

HR: Is it challenging to reinterpret staple items, such as shirts and ties, and present them in a fresh way each season?
MP: “The most important thing is our colour palette; it’s the cornerstone of every Duchamp collection. We spend more than a month finding colours from all sorts of materials, images, paintings, fabrics and vintage items from my local market on Portobello Road in London’s Notting Hill. Each season, there are always five different colour stories that are the basis for our designs and that gives our brand its main point of difference.

HR: What sets Duchamp cuff links and ties apart from the rest?
MP: We’re focused on accessories, where as a lot of brands have full ready-to-wear collections as their priority. We create 80 new tie designs each season and 25 new cuff link designs, all in three to four colour collections; not to mention socks, scarves, underwear, belts and small leather goods. We’ve taken a long-term view that our customer will always want “Made in Italy” and “Made in England” from our brand because they’re discerning and appreciate the fine tailoring. For our enamelled cuff links, we work with the same English manufacturer that we started with 20 years ago. Their technical engineering expertise is second to none and we now have more than 3,000 designs in our

archives.

HR: Though Duchamp offers a range of accessories, it champions the tie as the ultimate male style accessory. Why is that?
MP: The tie adds finesse and finishes an outfit,keeping it sharp, rather than relaxed, and gives the wearer a more commanding presence. With a Duchamp tie, a man has made the effort and complied with dress code – if with a little more personality!

HR: The Duchamp brand has been described as successfully possessing its own distinct handwriting. What does that mean to you?
MP: I love that our product has no logo or branding but is very recognisable. You know straight away that it’s a “Duchamp” from our bold use of colour and quality fabrics. I’m proud to say that we’ve achieved this success through word of mouth and customer loyalty.

HR: Who are your male style icons?
MP: My father, a French Parisian, was my first male style icon. Looking back at his photo albums from the ’50s, he looked so cool. I was in awe of him.

HR: Which man would you most like to dress and why?
MP: Though I don’t have one particular guy I’d like to dress, I love David Bowie’s “Thin White Duke” look from the ’70s. I think Christian Bale is my preferred actor today, but I also think celebrity endorsements have gone too far now.

HR: What should every man have in his closet?
MP: A Savile Row suit, a Jermyn Street shirt, a cashmere-lined silk bathrobe, Duchamp sterling-silver cuff links, handmade English brown oxford shoes, pocket squares in a multitude of colours and prints, socks galore and a Holt Renfrew account card!

By Christy Wright

Saturday, August 1st, 2009 | Interviews