For Ian Rosen, President & COO of Harry Rosen, business is personal. When you’re born and bred into a family business that is on the path of becoming a fashion retail legacy. The lessons you learn matter. One of those lessons being, change is the prerequisite to success. By the end of this September, we will see Harry Rosen embrace a new change of scenery and call it home as it prepares to unveil its new flagship at 153 Cumberland Street.
“Today, customers want to see the curation. […] They want to be hosted.”Ian Rosen
The opening marks a transformative moment for both the retailer and Toronto’s luxury shopping district. The company has been a fixture on Bloor Street for nearly six decades, with its current flagship location serving customers for close to 40 years. Over that time, the store has become Canada’s largest specialty retailer for menswear, helping to establish Harry Rosen’s leadership in the premium men’s fashion market.
The new Yorkville flagship at 153 Cumberland represents the most ambitious retail project in the company’s history. A meticulously designed 38,000-square-foot destination that reimagines what a modern men’s specialty store can be.
There’s no better feeling when men walk into a store and they leave well dressed. The feeling that invokes confidence, delivered through a personal relationship.
We have a completely blank-canvas opportunity to rebuild that experience for our clients. The exciting thing for me is we are creating a massive space that feels intimate at every turn. It does not feel like a big department store.
This is where you can tell that my father grew up in different times because his era of retail was, “Stack ‘em high and watch ‘em fly,” right? That meant you are in business. And our stores have been built around showing all our inventory. That was power. Today, customers want to see the curation. They want to see ones or twos of everything. And they want to be hosted.
It’s been a very funny experience explaining to my dad that, “Hey, we’re going to commit 350 square feet to an espresso bar on the second level next to our suiting area, where clients can sit down and have a coffee.” And he’s like, “Well, where are we going to put the merchandise?”
The trends play a big influence in how people are dressing nowadays. How is Harry Rosen leading the way in men’s fashion?
I think the job that we have as Canada’s largest specialty retailer for men is to introduce them to what’s current. And we need our customers to reflect what’s current. That said, we need to know what we are and what we aren’t. So we must figure out what parts of the fashion world we are going to play in.
As fabrications and silhouettes and all the things that go into that core part of our business, from suiting to sports jackets, all structured shoulders, we’re always working with our partners to make sure that we’re evolving.
A great example is if you looked at our sports jacket business even just eight years ago, the amount of structure that you would see in both the chest and the shoulder of every jacket would be significant. Now, the trend is very soft, deconstructed. A great example would be the Canali Kei model where the shoulder is completely deconstructed. You can really see the shape of a man’s shoulder. Brunello Cucinelli has something called the “Solomeo Shoulder”, which is virtually deconstructed, but it still has a substantial shoulder, maintaining that elevated look and sharp confidence.
I think the part of our business where we’re really serving our role and introducing new fashions to our client is, I would call it, casual contemporary. Things that you would wear on the weekend that have a little bit more fashion and flair to them. You’re not successful in this business if you don’t have great partnerships. We are not a maker. We are a retailer, and the beauty of that is we get to pivot and move with where fashion goes.
“Anybody with an open-to-buy can invest in inventory. Can you build relationships? That’s the main lesson I’ve learned from the family business.”Ian Rosen
What do you consider to be one of the key lessons you have learned from the family business?
I am so lucky that I grew up watching my grandfather and my father grow this business, and I had the opportunity to see both of them on a selling floor and engaging with clients.
When Harry passed away in December 2023, the messages we received from our partners and team had a story where they were helped by Harry. He was so client-service oriented. So, it’s not about the clothing. Anybody with an open-to-buy can invest in inventory. Can you build relationships? That’s the main lesson I’ve learned from the family business. These relationships need to last through the father down to the son and hopefully the son-in-law and to the kids. I have kids of my own now, so now we’re protecting this business for the next generation.
What is your definition of style?
Style for me is personal, but it’s opinionated, right? It is you expressing yourself in a way that almost trademarks and enhances your look, your profile, but ultimately your confidence. We have a saying; our new brand tagline is “For a Life Well Dressed.” And the root of that statement is when you are dressed well and confident and feel like you are your full self in what you’re wearing, you go out and accomplish more great things. Our vision is that we help you build out a wardrobe or a personal style that you embrace every day. Your entire wardrobe should be making you feel that way.
You should feel confident about the ways to pair it together. For 70-plus years, we have been there for men who are out there and they’re professional and personal and popping the question, saying, “I do” on their big day, nailing the job interview, giving the big presentation, making a statement at the office, date nights — you name it, we are there.
What is one Rosen family lesson that everyone could benefit from?
I think the biggest lesson that Harry continued to teach us is that feedback is a gift. You learn just as much from a great client experience as asking the person who walks out the door without a bag in their hands, “Why? Is there something that we didn’t or couldn’t do for you today?” and you find out what the opportunities are.
Feedback ultimately is a gift, and I think some people are totally riddled with confirmation bias. Our nature has always been to look for evidence that there’s room and opportunity for us to do better. And I think we’re hooked on it as an organization, and I always encourage our customers to provide that to me, to our team. I want to build a culture at our organization where we don’t get defensive about those things. Another lesson would be establishing trust: do what you say you’re going to do. If we fulfill our promises and build trust with our clients, there’s no limit to the business we can do. It’s as simple as that.
PHOTO COURTESY OF HARRY ROSEN. RENDERING COURTESY OF DK STUDIO ARCHITECTS.
