For The Discerning Few

Interview with the two co-founders of For The Discerning Few, Virgile Mercier and Pierre-Antoine Levy.

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Can you introduce yourself?

We are two thirty-something year olds, friends for about twenty years, and we both have about ten years of experience in the industry in different positions.

For those who don't know For The Discerning Few, what is it? When was it created? For what purpose?

FTDF is a blog that we created in 2010, when we were students and passionate about menswear. The name was inspired by what was once a statement by Edward Green: "The finest shoes in England for the discerning few". It is not about being elitist or excluding anyone, but simply about recognizing that the majority of people don't pay much attention to the subject we deal with.

In creating this blog, our intention was mainly to showcase relevant products and people while building a small network. Undoubtedly, offering interviews with industry professionals allowed FTDF to quickly distinguish itself. At the time, professionals’ point of view was scarcely expressed on blogs and forums.

Initially, tailoring was the blogs’ main theme, but we quickly broadened the subject by evoking the other pillars of the men's wardrobe: military clothing, workwear and sportswear.

Can you elaborate on your experiences in fashion? Did FTDF make things easier?

Virgile: Personally, after a few years working in auditing, I participated in developing the wholesale activity of several Italian brands. After that, I went to London to finalize a diploma at the London College of Fashion, before working at Trunk Clothiers and then for the French bootmaker Corthay. Upon my return to France, I first took over Heschung’s flagship store before becoming the brand's retail manager. I then left menswear for a while to become head of European retail coordination for Chaumet.
The experience of the blog has been useful in that it has allowed me to acquire skills and above all to get to know the actors in the industry.

PAL: In ten years, I have worked at all levels of the supply chain. I started out in retail, then moved on to wholesale. I then went on to do marketing and product development and production management.
FTDF had a positive impact at the beginning of my career but in the last few years it has not been a determining factor. On the other hand, I regularly use some of the knowledge I have gained through blogging directly or indirectly.

Why did you stop the blog when visits and awareness were growing?

It's always difficult to remember precisely the state of mind that we were in several years ago, but stopping the blog was the result of a combination of things.

What we can say is that there was a certain wear and tear and a willingness to focus on our respective careers. So we had to make choices because producing quality content takes time and we didn't have the ambition to be professional bloggers.

Indeed, the direct monetization means available at the time did not appeal to us. It's always the same thing, developing a relationship of trust with an audience and then selling access to others. Quickly, we risk starting to talk about things we would never spontaneously have talked about. This can turn sour very quickly. Originally, the Internet was supposed to provide more transparency and freedom traditional media did not have. But if we now look at influencers, it's hard to say that the promise has been kept.

Another option for monetization is to develop your products and try to sell them to your audience. This is what BonneGueule has done successfully and is undoubtedly a more honest approach. But it's much riskier, especially with a high price positioning. Moreover, even with this more virtuous model, we see catastrophes that can be explained by the fact that people lack experience, professionalism or are, in some cases, simply crooks.

In any case, at the time, we considered it wiser to continue our professional development by putting FTDF on hold without officially bowing out.

A corollary to the previous question: why did you decide to relaunch it? Do you have a clear objective? Is "blog" a fitting description?

The name "blog" is not demeaning in our opinion. As far as our objectives, they are quite similar to the ones we had initially. They are to inform and entertain.

To inform by highlighting interesting products and people in the industry, mostly ignored by traditional media, in order to help our readers better read the market and make better choices as consumers.

Indeed, for a consumer, making the right choice, if not the best choice, remains the number one issue. The more the products on offer, the more likely they are to make a mistake and be disappointed because it requires more information, which takes time. It is therefore good to be able to rely on suggestions from knowledgeable people who can help you discover certain things.

Moreover, it is also a matter of distraction because even if we wish to treat it with a certain rigor, the subject we are dealing with is not an exceptionally serious one.

In principle, with the experience we have gained over the last five years, we should be able to produce good quality content.

Are you going to remake photos of "looks"?

Most likely not. Beyond the fact that it is not something we like, we doubt that this type of content will have any added value with regard to what is already available at the moment. Indeed, if people still need sources of inspiration, they can go to Instagram and satisfy this need.

This is not how we want to (re)build our legitimacy on. We do not wish to write on explaining how to wear this or that piece. We can eventually suggest or, if we are asked, advise, but we think it is good for people to find their own way.

What are your favorite brands? Why do you like them?

Virgile: In regards to clothing, I particularly appreciate vintage pieces, especially pieces with sleeves like coats or jackets. More generally, I must say that there are always interesting pieces at Uniqlo; a customer looking for casualwear will generally find something interesting as the collections are well done. The brands Camoshita and Gitman Vintage also match my style even if we could spend hours arguing about the quality/price ratio. For shoes, my favorite brand has been Crockett & Jones for more than 10 years and it's not going to change anytime soon.

PAL: There are a lot of brands that still do good things but I don't have a particular attachment to any of them. What I'm interested in is the product, and when I choose it, whether it's for myself or to advise someone, the questions I ask myself are always the same. What am I looking for? For what circumstances? What budget? New or not? Only then can I decide which brands to consider.
As soon as we stay in the classic realm, it is easier to be certain about the relevance of a brand for shoes than for clothes. Indeed, established shoe brands have yielded much less to the temptation of diversification than clothing brands. It is therefore easier to remain loyal to a footwear brand as long as it does not constantly change its models.
On the other hand, for commercial reasons, most clothing brands tend to become generalists, which means that they are unfortunately no longer specialists in anything. One thus finds oneself with many products of which one could make the economy.

What about the so-called Luxury brands?

This is a complex subject that should be dealt with extensively. If we think about the brands that belong to the major French luxury groups, there are positives and negatives, but it all depends on what we're talking about.

If we only consider the product by putting ourselves in the consumers’ shoes who is not looking for status, we can probably stop debating their relevance fairly quickly. That said, the informed consumer is not or no longer their target in most cases. It is not in him or her that they wish to arouse desire.

Moreover, if we consider what these brands bring beyond the products they offer for sale, there are positive aspects that impact the entire market and consumers at different levels.
Without going into detail, these brands play a role, for example, in the preservation and transmission of certain know-how, particularly because they have tended to integrate their production to a greater extent in recent years. The innovations that result from the complex demands that they submit to their suppliers generally benefit the entire market. The same is true for the best practices that they are able to impose on suppliers, and as such they will play an important role with regard to environmental responsibility. They also set the standards for customer service, etc. In short, because of the size of their operation, they can change a whole sector.

What are your favorite menswear blogs? Blog in the broadest sense : a website, Instagram account…

Die Workwear by Derek Guy is very good. Blamo! of Jeremy Kirkland’s podcast is often interesting too. Just like HandCut Radio by Aleks Cvetkovic.
There are probably still a lot of people who do a good job but that we are not able to name.

From your point of view, how has menswear evolved since the launch of FTDF ? (in the blogosphere, on the internet in general)

FTDF was launched during the #menswear period. Thus, following the financial crisis, men's fashion refocused on its fundamentals and therefore on tailoring. The Ivy league and preppy styles were also predominant during this period. Next to that, the heritage/workwear style was also very strong. All this was in line with the "buy less, buy better" rhetoric resulting from the crisis in vogue again today. There was a renewed interest in craftsmanship, etc. This trend lasted a few years before running out of steam, the pre-crisis casualization movement took over again and the last few years have clearly been dominated by sportswear in the broad sense and to a lesser extent technical/outdoor clothing. More attention is being paid to textures and consistency of color palettes. Exuberance has been abandoned in favor of more subtlety.

In addition, we see that vintage is about to explode and becoming more democratic, especially among young people who consume differently and for whom it is now natural to resell business to finance new ones. This seems to be a good thing.

Paradoxically, even if there is a certain uniformity because of the internet, it seems that people have more personal style today than ten years ago and they are more comfortable with the fact that it can evolve over time.

Has everything already been said on the subject?

A lot has already been said, so one would think so, but it is probably wrong. If we restrict ourselves to a very small perimeter, we may indeed quickly have the feeling of going in circles. But if we take a step back, it appears that menswear is a dynamic and multidimensional subject that can be dealt with by looking backwards as well as looking forwards. We are far from having reached our destination.

Do you think written blogs still have a future? Do you plan to open a YouTube channel?

Traditional blogs are probably less in vogue than they used to be, but as long as the content is of quality and is properly relayed on social networks, it seems possible to find an audience.
The creation of a YouTube channel is not one of our projects at the moment. However, we do not exclude it and we will undoubtedly explore other media such as podcasting, which seems to lend itself well to what we want to do.

Finally, a more open question, would you have a book, a movie, an artist...to advise us?

Virgile: Nothing in regards to the subject at hand: Al Green, his entire discography, which I am currently (re)listening to in good conditions, being a Hifi enthusiast.

PAL: Related to the subject, How should we dress, by Adolf Loos for his criticism of ornaments. Also Modes and Men by Farid Chenoune if you manage to get your hands on it.