John Harrison is lounging in the 19th-century splendour of a reception room at Tsim Sha Tsui's 1881 Heritage building. He is dressed in a style that can be described as 'effortlessly elegant' - bright green trousers (hinting at nonconformity), Gucci loafers with an 1980s-style colour band (implying fashion nous), an open-neck shirt with a blue-grey silk scarf (suggesting artistic sensibility) and a formal blazer (tipping a wink at money and power).
The setting - the headquarters of Hong Kong's colonial marine police force - is appropriate given that Harrison is now the chief designer for Kent & Curwen, a British fashion brand that was founded in 1926 by Eric Kent and Dorothy Curwen, two English tailors who were born in the same Victorian/Edwardian crossover era as the 1881 Heritage building itself.
The detailed wainscoting and elaborate wooden panels of the reception room are a perfect setting for the suits and blazers that are an essential part of the Kent & Curwen DNA. Not that Harrison intends to slavishly bind himself to a tradition that's best known for regimental ties and formal wear.
'I am looking for something that I call a 'modern tradition', which draws on all our archive books from 1926 to the present day,' Harrison says. 'The brand has a great club and sporting heritage and I have been trying to soak that up.'
Although Kent & Curwen has a reputation for being as British as afternoon tea, these days the brand is part of the Hong Kong-based Li & Fung empire and operates inside that company's Trinity Group. With 38-year-old Harvard-educated Sabrina Fung as one of three executive directors, Trinity is aiming to become the first Asian-based global luxury goods conglomerate to rival LVMH, parent of Louis Vuitton, and PPR, the owners of Gucci. Trinity operates the Altea, Cerruti 1881, D'urban, Gieves & Hawkes and Intermezzo brands in Greater China and owns Kent & Curwen outright worldwide.
After spells as head of menswear at Gieves & Hawkes and head of formal wear at Marks & Spencer, Harrison, who graduated from Britain's Ravensbourne College of Design, was brought into Kent & Curwen last year to bring its classic DNA up to date.
