Saturday, 30 August 2014

Button Up with Ben Sherman

That Dapper Chap introduces the Ben Sherman button up campaign and gives an insight into the history of this iconic brand.

That Dapper Chap buttons up

Founded in 1963 by brighton born Arthur Benjamin Sugarman,the man described as ‘always embracing the new and the different’; someone constantly searching for the best of things' his first shirt factory was set up in his home town after a stint in the US where he picked up a wife who just happened to be the Daughter of a Californian clothing producer.

Following a few very successful years Sugarman now named Ben Sherman, sold the business and moved to Australia, a few changes and a few years later and here we are today celebrating 50 years of trading and reintroducing the #buttonup style

2013 saw Ben Sherman reach the ripe old age of 50 and as with any milestone it was to be celebrated. What they did was go back to their roots and re-issue some great heritage designs including paisleys and florals giving a respectful nod to their past and sharing their culture and legacy with an entirely new generation. A generation that missed the sixties, seventies and even the eighties, all decades that Ben Sherman has walked through, head held high, sticking to their look and their values while all the time carving themselves a well formed niche and establishing themselves an an iconic British brand.

My new umbrella print Ben Sherman shirt £75

Me, buttoned up in my own Ben Sherman umbrella print shirt

I've worn the button up style for a while. Just because you're not wearing a tie it doesn't automatically mean that your top button has to be undone. Maybe its just a British thing, I don't know, but what I do know is that it makes you stand out from the crowd as a person who knows their own style and has the confidence to show it.

The 'Button Up' campaign is a clear recognition of their roots and harks back to a past era, an era of cool, of London mods, Carnaby Street and the global rise of British fashion.