New Beginnings
Linings and Trimmings and Buttons, oh my!
Rather than look back five years from now and say, "that period was a significant turning point," I will write about it on my blog in the present, only to look back in five years and say, "yes, this was a turning point."
I also hope this inspires one with a dream which seems so insurmountable that anything is possible.
Can you believe this morning started with me waking up to a bolt of lining. Yes, lining. That insignificant fabric found in the INSIDE of a jacket. There are so many kinds of linings available, I mean think about it - quilted, polyester, printed, billions and billions of colours and woven. Yes, woven.
It was always a dream of mine to have my own linings. You would think something as unimportant as lining would be so important to me. But it was - back in the 1990s, when I did one of my first collections, I asked the manufacturer for Zaharoff lining only to be able to only afford the printed lining. You see, woven lining is very expensive. There are minimums and colours, and I wanted the fabrication to be the best - Bemberg Italian silk, it's neckwear fabric made into lining. Bemberg is the perfect lining.
So, if I can't have what I want, I wait. I did use the printed lining for a period of time, until the yardage ran out.
Seven years ago, when in a meeting, I asked the manufacturer of my suits if I could have my own linings - I was immediately turned down. And as time went by, other things were turned down as well. I was compromising....and what happens when life becomes a series of compromises?
I was so desperate to get things going - that I settled. But looking back I should have stood my ground. But that is the past. We are now in the present and looking to the future. Since last September '08, I embarked on making major llife changes, both personally and professionally.
Making a life choice is one thing, putting it into action is another. It's scary. It makes you doubt things. We are creatures of habit. But as I was going...scratch that, rewrite. But as I GO through the stages of fear, doubt, and other mixed feelings, I keep telling myself that the "other side" is going to be better. These changes HAVE to happen to grow. I have big dreams and a big dreamer has to have, well, big...er, kahounas. There's no other way. It's a brave new world, and so many things are in flux.
So, this morning I woke up in my hotel room and looked on the desk. It was a roll of "Zaharoff Lion" gold on gold Bemberg lining, 100% silk, made in Italy. It arrived at the office right before I left for the airport and rather than ship it overnight to where I was going I hand carried the bolt of fabric with me on the plane.
And so, there it was, the bolt of woven, Zaharoff, 100% Bemberg silk, made in Italy (I know I said it before but it excites me). I stopped for a moment, looked at it and thought, really just thought about the years and years of waiting for this moment. And I thought of you and wanting to share the moment with you, and I took the picture.
Sitting in the back seat of a black Mercedes, bolt in hand, I was looking out the window and thinking about life. The driver had a daughter who loved dressing her pooch and I thought of my Piccolo, who I had dropped off not more than 14 hours ago at a Petshotel. I missed him, We both had our dogs on our telephone screens.
Walking up the three flights of stairs, I anxiously opened the door of the sample room, and there it was - the "George" silhouette. There were two models, one was an "inverted" lapel and the other a "peak" lapel. There were no buttons on the jacket. I had flown in to approve the final samples.
My children - like violins. "George Jr." - inverted lapel (left) and peak lapel (right).
They were made into a sample size 40R, and even though I am a 43L, I tried the jacket on and looked in the mirror. I felt like...the word, I know it's dated, but I felt "chic" - it looked so modern and gentlemanly. I felt proud. I felt happy. I felt content.
I picked up the phone to call my CFO, he was not able to be there with me. I took pictures (above) and e-mailed it over.
It was exciting and the "George" model was born. On July 1st, 2009.
July 1st, 2014 (2014!) is five years away. I stop typing this blog, pause for a second and wonder, and hope for new beginnings and big and better things ahead.
Rather than look back five years from now and say, "that period was a significant turning point," I will write about it on my blog in the present, only to look back in five years and say, "yes, this was a turning point."
I also hope this inspires one with a dream which seems so insurmountable that anything is possible.
Can you believe this morning started with me waking up to a bolt of lining. Yes, lining. That insignificant fabric found in the INSIDE of a jacket. There are so many kinds of linings available, I mean think about it - quilted, polyester, printed, billions and billions of colours and woven. Yes, woven.
It was always a dream of mine to have my own linings. You would think something as unimportant as lining would be so important to me. But it was - back in the 1990s, when I did one of my first collections, I asked the manufacturer for Zaharoff lining only to be able to only afford the printed lining. You see, woven lining is very expensive. There are minimums and colours, and I wanted the fabrication to be the best - Bemberg Italian silk, it's neckwear fabric made into lining. Bemberg is the perfect lining.
So, if I can't have what I want, I wait. I did use the printed lining for a period of time, until the yardage ran out.
Seven years ago, when in a meeting, I asked the manufacturer of my suits if I could have my own linings - I was immediately turned down. And as time went by, other things were turned down as well. I was compromising....and what happens when life becomes a series of compromises?
I was so desperate to get things going - that I settled. But looking back I should have stood my ground. But that is the past. We are now in the present and looking to the future. Since last September '08, I embarked on making major llife changes, both personally and professionally.
Making a life choice is one thing, putting it into action is another. It's scary. It makes you doubt things. We are creatures of habit. But as I was going...scratch that, rewrite. But as I GO through the stages of fear, doubt, and other mixed feelings, I keep telling myself that the "other side" is going to be better. These changes HAVE to happen to grow. I have big dreams and a big dreamer has to have, well, big...er, kahounas. There's no other way. It's a brave new world, and so many things are in flux.
So, this morning I woke up in my hotel room and looked on the desk. It was a roll of "Zaharoff Lion" gold on gold Bemberg lining, 100% silk, made in Italy. It arrived at the office right before I left for the airport and rather than ship it overnight to where I was going I hand carried the bolt of fabric with me on the plane.
And so, there it was, the bolt of woven, Zaharoff, 100% Bemberg silk, made in Italy (I know I said it before but it excites me). I stopped for a moment, looked at it and thought, really just thought about the years and years of waiting for this moment. And I thought of you and wanting to share the moment with you, and I took the picture.
Sitting in the back seat of a black Mercedes, bolt in hand, I was looking out the window and thinking about life. The driver had a daughter who loved dressing her pooch and I thought of my Piccolo, who I had dropped off not more than 14 hours ago at a Petshotel. I missed him, We both had our dogs on our telephone screens.
Walking up the three flights of stairs, I anxiously opened the door of the sample room, and there it was - the "George" silhouette. There were two models, one was an "inverted" lapel and the other a "peak" lapel. There were no buttons on the jacket. I had flown in to approve the final samples.
They were made into a sample size 40R, and even though I am a 43L, I tried the jacket on and looked in the mirror. I felt like...the word, I know it's dated, but I felt "chic" - it looked so modern and gentlemanly. I felt proud. I felt happy. I felt content.
I picked up the phone to call my CFO, he was not able to be there with me. I took pictures (above) and e-mailed it over.
It was exciting and the "George" model was born. On July 1st, 2009.
July 1st, 2014 (2014!) is five years away. I stop typing this blog, pause for a second and wonder, and hope for new beginnings and big and better things ahead.
Posted by George Zaharoff at 1 July 2009, 8:42 PM 
Categories: Zaharoff Collections
Tags: suits made to measure zaharoff martin greenfield zaharoff gold
Categories: Zaharoff Collections
Tags: suits made to measure zaharoff martin greenfield zaharoff gold
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