Looking for marvellous menswear? Then look no further than my-wardrobe.com. Previously menswear buyer at Liberty, Lee Douros is one-half of the fashion duo that make up the team responsible for the perfect pick of clothes on offer. We took the opportunity to have a quick chat with Lee…

What does a typical day involve for you?

I wake up at 6:30 and go through emails at home over a few strong coffees before heading off to buying appointments for 9:00. I usually get into the office at around noon to catch up with the Merchandising team, and write [...]]]>

Looking for marvellous menswear? Then look no further than my-wardrobe.com. Previously menswear buyer at Liberty, Lee Douros is one-half of the fashion duo that make up the team responsible for the perfect pick of clothes on offer. We took the opportunity to have a quick chat with Lee…

What does a typical day involve for you?

I wake up at 6:30 and go through emails at home over a few strong coffees before heading off to buying appointments for 9:00. I usually get into the office at around noon to catch up with the Merchandising team, and write up any orders that need to be placed. I have a look through the New In items on the site and bookmark pieces I want to buy (too many!) before heading off to more appointments in the afternoon. I respond to the day’s emails on the tube and finish up at home around 7:30.

Who is your favourite designer right now?

Can I pick two?! I think what David Keyte has done with Universal Works is absolutely astounding. He has started a brand that looks so resolved, it might have been going for years. His aesthetic is very “workwear” inspired, which is right on trend, yet each piece is completely wearable. It fits into your wardrobe so easily. Another brand I have been a fan of for years is APC. It still gets me excited. It epitomises Parisian understated cool. You know how the French are always admired for their effortless style? Well, this is the brand they are wearing!

Would you ever consider turning your hand to be a womenswear buyer?

No, I think I would leave that to the professionals!

Where do you shop for your clothes?

Apart from our own site, I’m a fan of Liberty for their International room – Dries, Margiela and Demeulemeester – and b Store for their contemporary pieces. I also love the Paris Comme store.

What has been the highlight of your career so far?

This season I have had the opportunity to work with some of my favourite designers to produce an exclusive pieces for my-wardrobe.com. It’s like playing designer for a day! I have worked with Mackintosh, YMC and Oli Spencer this season on exclusive pieces.

How did you get into buying?

I did buying for two independent, young designer boutiques in Melbourne before moving to London where I worked at Liberty and moved into the buying office as Assistant Buyer for Menswear.

Have you always been interested in fashion, what is your earliest memory?

No, I fell into fashion by accident. I was always interested in Fine Arts and I was originally working in Melbourne as a jewellery curator/buyer for a boutique when I was called upon to cover the absence of their fashion buyer. I see fashion as an extension of the fine arts/craft industry.

What is your favourite item of clothing in your wardrobe?

It changes at any given moment, but currently I love my Grenson brogued boots and Barbour Union Jack lined jacket. Can you tell I’m an anglophile Antipodean?! I’m also a sucker for a good tweed blazer.

If you couldn’t do your current job what would you do instead?

I hope I’d be making jewellery for Maison Margiela or Alexander McQueen. Two very different designers, but both amazing.

Describe yourself in three words?

Passionate, insouciant, fun-loving.

Since it’s our first interview here at MFL For Him, it was kind of big deal that we set it off accordingly with an estimable menswear designer that approbates the enduring British sartorial codes of yesteryear. Some may think anachronism and traditionalist, but we think timeless strewn in with avant-garde when it comes to Carolyn Massey’s aesthetic. Hot on the heels of her AW08 Topman diffuse line, we decided to catch up with Massey to muse on fashion and life.

How did the seasonal diffusion line with Topman come about?

I was approached in my 1st season by Matthew Murphy from [...]]]>

Since it’s our first interview here at MFL For Him, it was kind of big deal that we set it off accordingly with an estimable menswear designer that approbates the enduring British sartorial codes of yesteryear. Some may think anachronism and traditionalist, but we think timeless strewn in with avant-garde when it comes to Carolyn Massey’s aesthetic. Hot on the heels of her AW08 Topman diffuse line, we decided to catch up with Massey to muse on fashion and life.

How did the seasonal diffusion line with Topman come about?

I was approached in my 1st season by Matthew Murphy from B Store who coordinates the LENS area. We started with a capsule collection seasonally, but the area has taken off so well that we are expanding up to 4 collections a year, and I’m excited to also be designing accessories to compliment the range.

How do you approach the design process?

My work is an ongoing love affair really. This is the reason I find it hard to write a press release of “this season its all about X!” My work follows similar themes, my research delves deeper each season. I feel like Im constantly searching, researching for ideas- research is my strength, so its completely ongoing and evolving. I am always gathering imagery and garments, I gather these together to form a story in time for a collection. I start by researching, but always imagery that I have picked up will be in my mind. I take photographs a lot, and my idea of heaven is spending a day researching in the library at the Royal College of Art, where I studied.

What’s the most defining moment thus far in your career?

I have moments of “oh my god how is this happening?!” But then quickly reality bites. I don’t help myself as often if something amazing happens I’ll have a moment of “that’s great!” But then it will be all about how I can push things further. Always- in almost a self-torturing manner.

Outside of fashion related work, what is your favourite pastime?

Dinner! Fabulous dinner out great food great service. Good and mind expanding conversation (which is rare and amazing these days) and then drinking so much gin I forget it all…. well you have to let go sometimes non?!

What are you reading now?

Currently as many books about Tokyo as I can get my hands on- I’m off for a week in mid november as I have been sponsored by the British Fashion Council to take my collection over there and present it in the English Embassy. Its an amazing opportunity for me. Other than that, re-reading Oliver Sacks’ “The Man who mistook his wife for a hat”.

As a child, say between the ages of 5 to 10, what did you want to be? Moreover, if not fashion design, what other career path would you see yourself in?

At the age of 5 I asked to be sent to boarding school. It was the most amazing time, and I can see now that this has formed my obsession with all things ‘proper’. But as for a career, I had no idea. If not fashion design, I’m not sure…maybe photography.

With all the embellishments of bows and ruffles in your designs, there’s a tad bit of androgyny and femininity that seeps into the collection. Any chance of womenswear line from Carolyn Massey?

I have just been appointed Creative Director of a womenswear label that will launch in February over london fashion week.

You’ve been heralded as a designer that seeks to relive the sartorial code of ‘what it is to be a gentleman.” What’s your idea of the perfectly dressed gentlemen? Are there any present day prototypes you take inspiration from?

This was my comment on societies assumptions of man and how this can be distorted through dress. This is something I am quite intrigued in.

Everyone who’s taken a look at your collection with Topman has been smitten with the Sherlock Holmes-esque cape. What was the inspiration behind this piece?

It was actually an idea from a Dutch nurses cape! I’m obsessed with researching- flea markets, especially in Paris, hold a wealth of inspiration.

Sum up your aesthetic in three words?

Dark, Romantic. Fabulous.