Christian Harmes

I wear a tie every day, and have done for the past seven or eight years, so I feel a bit odd not wearing a tie on weekends.

At work, I’ve got to dress in an influential way, so it’s suit, tie, pocket square, all that carry-on. There is a traditional dress code, so I’m trying to fit into that with my own unique finishing touches, without stretching the boundaries too much.

When I go home, the whole lazy rock ’n’ roll look is just really comfortable. It gets people thinking, when they see pictures of me at work versus how I am quite sloppily dressed in the weekend, it’s a bit of a dichotomy. That translates through into the buying I do for the store as well. While we have to buy stuff that's going to sell, I also like to pick a few edgy pieces for the window.

What I wear wouldn’t be what a traditional Kiwi would wear, and a good 20 per cent of the collections I buy would push the boundaries as well. Often the outfits that make you question your own decisions — are the ones that get the most positive feedback.

There is certainly room for improvement with Kiwi men’s fashion. I think bold colour is a difficult one for some Kiwi men. I also want to get guys out of wearing boardies — boardies are for the beach.

There are a couple of outfits I clearly remember from growing up. In the 80s, I got my mother to sew me up a pair of MC Hammer pants. At the time, I definitely had a strut, but when I think about it now it is with more of a cringe. Not long after that came the Kurt Cobain era, so I went from some white rap look into a long haired, greasy, sort of grunge look. I guess it’s just trying to find your position in the world.