When it comes to style, Ian B and Owen Parry are like chalk and cheese. While Ian describes his style as the offspring of Oscar Wilde and Jimi Hendrix (read dapper tuxedo jackets with super-skinny jeans), Owen is more Johnny Depp meets Dickens (eclectic, mismatched but utterly charming). Though they clash in the style stakes, they’re united in their mission to return the men of Britain to their former sartorial glory.

Britain has such a rich style heritage, from Ben Sherman and the Carnaby Street Mods in the 60’s to Dame Vivienne Westwood and the Kings Road Punks in the 80’s. Possibly the most iconic and enduring image of the stylish British gent is James Bond. Whether grappling with Grace Jones or canoodling with Honor Blackman, Bond was invariably dressed to impress in the holy grail of British menswear, the bespoke Savile Row suit.

With a tradition of style and individuality coursing through Britain’s veins, Ian and Owen couldn’t believe the lack of clothing options available to British men. However a lack of choice is nothing compared to most men’s admission that they don’t know “what goes with what” when it comes to getting dressed. Some argue that you inherently have style or you don’t. Ian and Owen’s mission is to share the basic concepts of dressing well, specifically colour, fabric and cut. With the basic tools in place, every man may confidently set about defining their own unique style. For the modern man, dressing well is as much a part of life as a healthy diet and exercise regime. Style should be democratic - something accessible to all men, not just the chosen few. With the mantra of “dress for the life you want to lead, not the life you have”, Ian and Owen have set about reigniting British men’s pride in their appearance, creating a new wave of devilishly dapper dressers.

“The tracksuit is dead – long live the suit”.

As for the chaps, both have twenty-four karat fashion credentials.

Ian cut his teeth as a freelancer at Cosmopolitan before moving on to become style & grooming editor at GT. After two years in the role, he departed to develop a TV format geared towards male style and grooming. During the transition from editorial staffer to freelance journalist and blogger, he ended up getting snapped by leading photographer Rankin for a major exhibition. In the wake of this career-defining moment, he launched www.ibstyle.co.uk and his successful fashion and beauty blog Diary Of A Fashion Mister. The blog was quickly snapped up by Glam Media, the luxury online publishing network. Soon, Diary Of A Fashion Mister was attracting advertising revenue from leading brands such as Barclays, Appletiser, Nescafe and Filofax. Where Ian writes, people follow, be that in the pages of the Sunday Times or online on My-wardrobe.com, Facebook and Twitter. A respected voice in the industry; major brands have sought Ian’s opinion and expertise when launching new ranges. His freelance styling career has seen him work with celebrities as diverse as Annie Lennox, Rachel Stevens and Frankie and Rochelle from The Saturdays.

http://www.ibstyle.co.uk/

Owen Parry is plain old addicted to fashion. His personal style encompasses vintage, urban and street with just a little twist of designer. He’ll wear anything, in any combination, provided only that it shouts ‘style’. Owen’s addiction began in his teens and continued during his degree studies at Nottingham Trent, which encompassed both fashion and marketing. A year followed in the celebrity division of super-luxe fashion PR agency Halpern PR. While there, Owen was involved with luxury brands including Dior, Roberto Cavalli, Tiffany and Jo Malone. His job (it was tough but someone had to do it) involved dressing celebrities for photo shoots.

Owen has shared breathing space with some of Hollywood’s finest, Juliet Lewis and The Licks, Prison Break’s Wentworth Miller and Christian Slater (with whom he picked sunglasses – naturally).

A key part of his remit was developing a new campaign for the denim-based fashion brand Energie. They wanted to feature a new band in their in-store promotional material. Owen picked The Maccabees (then just a twinkle in their record company’s eyes). When Miss Sixty wanted the ‘next big thing’ as their store icon, Owen suggested Lily Allen (long before she was famous). Sadly, the client decided on an Italian model (who remains unknown). He is always on the lookout for the next uber-celeb and hot trend.

Owen continues to work in fashion PR with some of the best-known brands in the business including
Replay and Playstation.

In their promo shots, Ian and Owen wear Tiger of Sweden exclusively.
Photographs courtesy of Fabrice Lachant