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Introducing The He Spoke Style Shop

September 6th, 2017
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An exciting new development in the evolution of HSS

Yesterday, we quietly launched something very special – the He Spoke Style Shop – and I couldn’t be more excited. The HSS Shop marks a new chapter in the evolution and development of our brand and I’d like to share the story of how we arrived at this point as well as some details about what to expect.

How did we get here?

This whole idea started two years ago as a result of a simple conversation with my friend Chris (the guy with the flasks) during a car ride. We have a lot of conversations that begin with Chris saying, “You know what you need to do…” and followed by whatever he’s determined to be the next big thing. To be completely honest, I usually listen politely then proceed to summarily dismiss his “advice”. And this instance was no different.

Why? Well, to be frank, running a digital media company (even one as lean as ours) is a lot of work. So entertaining any additional responsibilities or ventures inevitably boils down to the following question: do we have the bandwidth to support this? And 999 times out of 1000 the answer is, “no”.

The idea that started it all. Our 2 oz. flask from English Pewter Company. Designed for the “perfect pour”.

However, Chris persisted. Our imaginary core product offerings were made up of exclusive items – a signature flask was the germ. Now, I should mention that by this point, I’d begun to turn a corner and see the potential value of growing our business in this manner. (This book proved pivotal.) So, being the great manager that I am, I said, okay if you want the signature flask, you make it happen then report back to me. I’ll be damned if it wasn’t two weeks later and I was proofing CAD drawings from English Pewter Company for the monogram on what would become the first HSS product we’d have in our hands.

From there, it became about meeting with and lining up partners for an exclusive, private label collection, deciding what types of products we’d like to carry, building out our platform so the experience would be as close as possible to what you’ve grown accustomed to on these pages and creating the content to fill it all in. To make a long story short, we were fortunate to have had the assistance of many wonderful and extraordinary people throughout the entire process and all of the pieces fell into place rather neatly. For all of that, I am eternally grateful.

Welcome to the He Spoke Style Shop

Now, as I mentioned, the core collection in Chris’s “imaginary” HSS Shop was a bunch of signature items and that’s exactly what you’ll find in the Exclusive category of the shop today. Our exclusive collection is made up of timeless accessories to help you live a more stylish life as well as some other really neat things, which I’ll get to shortly.

most versatile suit color

First, however, let’s talk about our private label collection with Seaward & Stearn. If you haven’t heard of them, we’re going to give you an education. Here’s the short version: they’re a storied London maker who, for decades, have been producing fine, luxury handmade neckwear and accessories for some of the most prestigious, exclusive and respected men’s apparel brands around the world. We chose them, not just because of their exceptional pedigree, but because their vision of style is the spitting image of ours – classic with a modern sensibility.

Our Versatile Stripe and Gentleman’s Solid ties

Each tie in our collection was designed with both timeless style and maximum versatility in mind. You’ve seen our Classic English Madder tie styled on the site a few times already and we’re looking forward to cooler fall days to start breaking out our “Versatile Stripe” and “Gentleman’s Solid“. And then when the holidays swing by, it’s game-over with the “Ultimate Tartan”.

Though we’re committed to offering only the highest-quality products in each of our categories, nowhere is that more apparent than with these signature pieces. Many items, like our Abbeyhorn shoe horns and combs, can be admired in the photos but, honestly can’t truly be appreciated until you hold them in your hands. Now let’s talk about just one – actually, four – of those really neat things I mentioned.

Tug Rice’s exclusive and limited-edition illustrations for He Spoke Style – the four types of gentlemen. Clockwise from upper left: The Executive, The Connoisseur, The Scholar and The Rake.

There are times when I hate Instagram and there are times when I love it. The story that follows proved to be one of the latter. A few weeks prior to launch, a gentleman named Tug Rice reached out via DM to say he wanted to be involved. He’s an illustrator, so we conceived of a limited edition series of illustrations featuring four types of gentleman. One week later, I received these stunning depictions of The Executive, The Connoisseur, The Scholar and The Rake. Of course, they’re printed on archival-quality paper and have already proven to be quite popular after just one day.

We’ve got your covered from home to office

Now, because we know who you are – sorry if that sounds creepy, guys – we feel like we’ve got a pretty good handle on what will turn you on. You’re educated, professional and successful in addition to appreciating quality and style in all aspects of your life from your home to your office to your home office. As a result, we’ve rounded out the shop with a collection of products designed to enhance your appreciation and enjoyment of the time you spend either at your desk or on your couch.

For the office, we’re pretty excited about a variety of things, not the least of which is a completely handcrafted wooden pen and pencil tray (also a part of our exclusive collection) by British designer Andrew Hine, which looks particularly handsome with a Karas Kustoms brass pen. And then there’s our favorite refillable leather notebook along with a host of attractive brass desk accessories.

A Karas Kustoms brass pen with our HINE x HSS wooden pen rest

For the home, we like conversation pieces that are also solid performers. We’re talking the likes of the modern classic Master & Dynamic MH40 headphones, a heavy-duty brass match striker, and leather valet tray. And if you’re like us, you’ve got a few bookshelves. We can help you fill those up.

But wait, there’s mo… vintage watches

You know that we’re pretty big on watches here at HSS. And we know that the mechanical watch world – and vintage watch market, in particular – can be rather pretentious, off-putting and just seem plain out of reach. But the truth is, you don’t have to pay and arm and a leg or through the nose for a great vintage watch. With this in mind, we teamed up with our friends at analog/shift to bring you a collection of vintage watches that are high-quality, desirable and, most importantly, affordable – the kinds of watches that not only make spectacular first vintage watches, but just spectacular vintages watches, in general.

We wanted to keep it classic but also diverse in terms of the potential wearer’s proclivity for dressy or sporty. With perhaps one exception, all of the watches in our capsule collection were specifically chosen with an eye towards versatility.

A 1970s Universal Genève Polerouter with gold-plate and black dial

Yeah, we’ve got a 1970s Rolex Datejust for you, but don’t let “the crown” blind you. A vintage watch collector is many things, including a speculator. And we’re putting a lot of our chips on a brand called Universal Genève as one to watch (no pun intended). We’ve got two examples – one in steel and one in gold – to submit into evidence. Military buff? Try this one on for size. And no collection is complete without a classic chronograph.

Okay, now that you’ve gotten the complete low down (and hopefully have made it to this point in the post), check out the He Spoke Style Shop right here and have a look around at everything we’ve found for you. It is my sincere with that you like what what you find in the HSS Shop as much as we do.

Chime in: What would you like to see in the HSS Shop in the future?

Thanks for reading.

Stylishly Yours,

Brian Sacawa
He Spoke Style

Brian Sacawa

Brian Sacawa is the Founder of He Spoke Style and one of the original men’s style influencers. Since 2013, his goal has remained the same: to provide men the advice and inspiration they need to dress well, develop their personal style, and gain more confidence. Brian’s interest and passion for men’s style and luxury watches has led to his writing for The Robb Report, The Rake, and Sotheby’s and he has been quoted on menswear in publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Today.com, Brides Magazine, and the Huffington Post. He lives in the woods north of Baltimore with his wife, Robin, kitties Nick and Nora, and German Shepherd/Collie mix Charlie.

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