A Stylish Guest
“a stylish life” B
WE MEET BEN: AT
HARVEY NICHOLS MANCHESTER
EN HAS WORKED AT HARVEY NICHOLS MANCHESTER FOR SEVEN YEARS. AFTER STUDYING PERFORMING ARTS, HE STARTED AS A SALES ADVISOR BUT HIS GOAL WAS ALWAYS TO MANAGE PERSONAL SHOPPING. HAVING WORKED HIS WAY UP, BEN IS NOW DEPARTMENT MANAGER OF PERSONAL SHOPPING, LADIES INTERNATIONAL, LADIES CONTEMPORARY, DESIGNER SHOES AND LIFESTYLE. OUR FASHION EDITOR MET HIM, TO CHAT ABOUT FASHION, HIS JOB AND MANCHESTER.
HAVE YOU ALWAYS LOVED FASHION?
Yes, yes, yes! I actually studied performing arts and in the third year of my degree I was sat in my final dissertation meeting with my lecturer and we spent 45 minutes of that hour talking about the cut of a Vivenne Westwood suit. DO YOU REGRET NOT STUDYING ANYTHING FASHION BASED? Loved my degree, had a great time, had a blast and I think it brought out a lot of creativity on part. It has helped a lot, giving me a different slant on fashion. Who knows, if I had done a fashion degree I might have ended up wanting to go in to acting. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR OWN PERSONAL STYLE? Eclectic. The amount of times I walk in to work and people, [friends and colleagues] won’t say, ‘you look nice’ but they’ll say ‘you look smart’ ‘You look geeky’. You never know what I’m going to wear, I just look in my wardrobe and choose what’s clean, dry and ironed and I’ll put that on. WHAT BRANDS DO YOU LOVE? Always Mcqueen, always Acne, always
Givenchy and Balenciaga.
The niche, cooler brands. I’m not an Italian brand wearer, that’s not my look. It looks great on other people but it just doesn’t suit me, I’m more in to French and London brands. HAVE YOU GOT A PARTICULAR STYLE OF CLIENT THAT COMES TO SEE YOU? I
generally, for some odd reason,
will attract a more mature client. My clients are mainly fifty plus. I do have some younger clients, in their mid thirties. The younger clients that I do have are always looking for the newest thing, they are ‘on it’ and already telling me what they want for winter. I have one client who has just
bought a Gucci wool dress, she goes to Marbella on Saturday, she won’t wear it until September but she knows, if she doesn’t get it now, it might be gone. DO YOU HAVE A CLOSE RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR CLIENTS?
I allow my team to have a very personal relationship with their clients. It’s a very one on one service, they’ll receive text messages at 2.30am from clients on holiday saying ‘I’ve seen this bag, can you get it in for me.’ They’ll go on nights out with them, in fact, I have just had one of my team go on holiday with one of her clients for a week. HARVEY NICHOLS ARE RENOWNED FOR BIG SHOWS, IS THIS SOMETHING YOU LOOK FORWARD TO EVERY SEASON? I love it. We get to style them which I
love. I like to go on holidays in
October but I have to wait to find out when the show is first so I don’t miss it. Literally, once I finished work after the show at midnight and got on a plane at 5am but I couldn’t miss the shows. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF MANCHESTER’S STYLE? ‘It’s very ‘set’. There are categories and
people don’t break beyond
them. You’ve got a northern quarter set, you’ve got a Panacea set and you’ve got an Alderly Edge set and people don’t break out of them. They embrace their trends. It’s great and it’s eclectic but I still think we have got a little bit to come before you can wear something different and people won’t turn
their head.
WHERE DO YOU LIKE TO HANG OUT IN MANCHESTER?
Common in the Northern Quarter, Britain’s Protection. I really like to go to oldie worldy pubs like Peveral on The Peak. I love Kim By The Sea in Hulme, that’s my local, that’s where I spend all my time.
by Siobhan Cooper
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