Clothes Sell: The Harry Rosen Story

In a world today that is seemingly dominated by the notion that "Sex Sells", it is nice to know that there is still some sense left in humanity when it comes to advertising. We recently had a lecture on sexuality and gender, and in this lecture there arose at one point the above notion. We were shown ads, both videos and images, which seemed to exploit the thought that in order for a product to sell it must in some way be related to sex.

This got me thinking. Whenever you go to a shopping mall you are bombarded with advertisements showcasing barely clothed males and females that are apparently modelling the clothes of whichever store they are for. These stores are obviously using sex as a reason for consumers to pick their product over others. Consumers believe that if they buy those clothes, they will be seen as desirable.

However, in these very same shopping malls there exists stores which use next to no visual advertisement whatsoever. And the ads that they do have are tasteful and showcasing the stores actual product, as opposed to the model that is wearing their product. I notice that these stores are generally the higher-end stores, the stores which are meant to appeal to a demographic of consumers with more money to spend on shopping. Stores like Harry Rosen.

Harry Rosen is a store that was founded on the principle that service was more important than the clothes. Harry Rosen wanted to appeal to the male consumer by showing them that his store was a place they could go to for trusted advice, from one man to another. The aim was never to sell fashion. Fashion was just something that resulted from Harry Rosen's simple design. In the 50 years since his first store opened, Harry Rosen has never deviated from this plan. Harry Rosen's stores are a true showing that if you sell your product effectively, you will not have to rely on sex appeal to make your clothes appealing.

Above you can see a picture of the inside of a Harry Rosen store. You will notice that there are no images of models, there are no large empty spaces. There are clothes, the stores product. These clothes are presented in a manner that showcases which items go with what, and varying options to find something that works for the consumer. Simply put, the store is doing what its original purpose was - selling clothes.

Now, many would argue that Harry Rosen is not a fair comparison for those lower-end stores which do use sex to sell their products. But to me, that is not a valid claim. There is a reason that Harry Rosen rose to a higher-end status while those stores which use sex appeal sunk to lower-end. That is because Harry Rosen became a status symbol, not just a clothing store. There is a certain reputation that goes with those who shop at Harry Rosen, a good reputation, a reputation that says these men purchased their clothes because they liked how they looked not because they thought that their clothes would attain them higher sex appeal.

Of course, that is not to say that the clothes being purchased at Harry Rosen aren't going to appeal to the opposite sex. If anything, the quality and fit you will receive from Harry Rosen will make your clothes look better on you than any lower-end store's product ever could. In the words of ZZ Top, every girl is crazy about a sharp dressed man.