Sitting one morning in the barber's chair in our Sloane Street shop, having my luxurious locks trimmed by Michael, my eye was drawn to the glass and mahogany cabinets displaying Hackett toiletries neatly laid out in smart navy and white packaging. Complimenting this captivating sight were the soaps and colognes from D.R. Harris, whose red and white boxes sat pleasingly alongside.
It occurred to me then that I had been using D.R. Harris products for close to 30 years, having one day stumbled upon their establishment in the heart of St James's club land.
It was then that I made my first purchase of their famous Almond Oil Soap. This almond shape bar is creamy, gently scented and discreetly embossed with the company's crest. If you are looking for a Christmas gift then their soap on a rope is a fun stocking filler.
D.R. Harris has been concocting colognes and oils for gents for more than 200 years, and their products grace the bathrooms of several gentlemen's clubs, deservedly embossed with text proclaiming them as being 'By Appointment to the Prince of Wales'.
You could be forgiven for thinking that this all sounds terribly old fashioned, but when I was in Antwerp a while ago, I dropped into Dries Van Noten's stylish emporium and saw that this high priest of fashion was stocking D.R. Harris.
On a recent BA flight home from Delhi, when I was invited to turn left and settle into seat A1, I was handed a D.R. Harris wash bag overflowing with goodies - I thought “Yes, this is first class.”
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