Just back from Australia, can't sleep so thought I would
write my blog, which is sure to send me to sleep if not you.
I have been travelling a fair bit these last few weeks. It
kicked off with a Eurostar trip to Le Touquet, a charming seaside resort
popular in the 1930s with the likes of Noël Coward, HG Wells and Cecil
Beaton. The reason I was in Le Touquet was to celebrate the opening of a new
Hackett shop close to the five star Westminster hotel, a grand hotel in the
traditional style with an almost untouched Art Deco interior and where I spent
a comfortable night after our opening party. We were privileged with a visit
from The Lord Mayor who conferred on me the honour of the freedom of the Town
and presented me with a gold medal with the words that Tony Blair had been the
last person to have had the honour bestowed on him so depending on your
politics, I was in good company. In Paris, the next day, I took the opportunity
to check out our shops and it being Saturday I was pleased to see that they
were buzzing.
Interior of the Westminster hotel Le Touquet
Lunch at Sumers General Store
Needing a break from all the glamour of the awards I headed
to Australia to visit family in Melbourne. Now, this is the thing with the
fashion business you never really switch off. I arranged to have dinner with a
long standing customer Henry Bucks, the best Menswear business in Melbourne
followed by a visit to their Collins St store and the Hackett department;
I still find it a bit odd to travel thousands of miles and to be
confronted with Hackett products. I then looked up my friends who have a shoe
business called Double Monk and probably have the most comprehensive selection
of English shoes in Australia.
Somers General Store on the Mornington Peninsular
View from the beach house towards Philips Island.
My office in London had very kindly organised a telephone
interview with The Financial Times, because of the time difference it was
scheduled for 11.30pm, which after drinks with dinner with Henry Bucks (and
still feeling jet lagged) I only hoped I didn't slur my words. I
then received an urgent email requesting my answers to a number of questions
for a London magazine. Determined to make the most of my short holiday I
travelled down to the family beach house on the Mornington Penninsular for the
day before making the long trek home. And if you are not sleepy after reading
that, I am and I'm going back to bed, sweet dreams.
Jeremy Hackett