So I’m in Paris for a well-deserved week-long vacation (perhaps my first since starting the business depending on how you count them). And I’m still checking in on the store and the club, and of course, I’m always scouting for new brands or product ideas because, to me, that’s fun, not work.
But I have to remember that not everyone has the same passion for menswear that I do. And not everyone pays as much attention to brands as I do. I was reminded of that lesson on our second night here.
We went to the Eiffel Tower at night, and after taking plenty of pictures, and seeing the light show they do on the top of the hour, I saw a gentleman wearing a marine blue jacket with khaki under the collar. It looked awfully like the Peter Millar Microfiber Jacket that we’ve been selling for a couple seasons now. Naturally, I approached the gentleman and his wife — they were probably in their 60′s — and said, "Excuse me. Is that a Peter Millar jacket you’re wearing?" Talk about deer in the headlights! I think their gut instinct was that I was some kind of a French con artist with a perfect American accent that was somehow going to pick his pocket while checking the label on his coat (to be honest, I don’t blame them for thinking that).
I explained, "It’s ok, I’m an American. I have a men’s store in San Francisco and I’m pretty sure we sell that exact same jacket." He didn’t know how to tell, so I added that you can read the name on the leather tab on the zipper, and sure enough, it read "Peter Millar." I’m not sure he could read it in the dark, but I told him to check when he gets back to the hotel. If he does, he’ll appreciate my genius; if he doesn’t, I’m going to be the crazy American pickpocket living in Paris who couldn’t swipe his change purse fast enough. Let’s hope he checked…
[by the way, we just added the jacket in Rust (a burnt orange), and it's gorgeous]
October 19, 2010
Clothing