The Making of a Sharp Dressed Man

Chris Berre admits he was always into style – taking inspiration from his dapper dressing grandfather and father who imparted the mentality that if you dress well “good things will happen to you.”

A recent graduate of Northern Kentucky’s Chase College of Law, Berre found his mind wandering towards style while interning at the State Attorney’s office in Chicago last summer. With no formal training in design or fashion, he found inspiration in a Renaissance-era tome that discusses the attributes of the “perfect gentlemen,” and began to blog about men’s style. 

“Chris is very style conscious and understands men’s fashion and some of the intricacies,” says Michael Palmer, Berre’s partner in their new men’s style venture, Artfully Disheveled.

Berre met Palmer through mutual friend Colin Groth.  Groth and Palmer founded Nati Involvement, a Cincinnati-centric urban clothing line that combined street art and design to focus a positive light on the Queen City.  Unknowingly, Palmer provided the perfect partner for Berre’s style ideas. A graduate of DAAP, Palmer spent time in New York City before returning to Cincinnati to work with Interbrand, handling creative direction for the firm’s clients. He recently joined Procter & Gamble as a senior design manager on men’s grooming.  The experience allows Palmer to leverage his international design experience from Interbrand and P&G with his streetwise start up experience with Nati Involvement. The experience allows Palmer to leverage his international design experience with P&G and “start building a unique niche in marketing things specifically for men, how to talk to guys and what’s going on in guy’s lives. 

Their company name, Artfully Disheveled, is a loose interpretation of an Italian term, “sprezzatura” coined by Baldassare Castiglione in his 16th century Renaissance work, The Book of the Courtier, which originally inspired Berre’s blogging.  The term, according to Berre, implies a “well practiced naturalness” that should be part of any perfect gentlemen’s essence.

“It’s this thoughtful nonchalance,” says Berre. “It doesn’t look as though you’ve tried this hard to put the look together but it comes across so naturally that it doesn’t seem like you’re trying.”

While Palmer and Berre design the line of ties and pocket squares, the partnership also includes Berre’s brother Trey, an attorney in Chicago who handles the legal end of things, and Palmer’s friend Grady Collins, originally from Columbus and currently a financial controller in Cardiff, Wales. Utilizing a manufacturing contact in the States, their jointly-created designs are custom woven in China using 100% silk. The pair have spent the past month canvassing men’s style stores in Chicago and Lexington, and have further appointments in Louisville, Nashville as they attempt to sell their Midwestern based line.

“You can go into any store in the world and buy a tie. It’s not colors or patterns for patterns sake, its colors and patterns that come together to tell a story,” Palmer says.

“We’re selling the story, and the fact that style can come out of the Midwest,” adds Berre.

Artfully Disheveled’s fall line includes neck ties, bow ties and pocket squares. Palmer says the goal is to be “classic with a twist,” by utilizing familiar patterns that reveal more subtle details as you inspect them closer. Palmer says it’s important that men wear something that’s not just stylish, but conversational as well.

“Every person should be wearing something that tells something about themselves, or tells a story in general, and this is a way for guys who aren’t that style conscious to have a piece that has a story to it,” Palmer says.

Berre says each tie will come with its own story with names like the “Epicurean,” with its fork and knife repeated pattern, the “Academy,” a traditional classic tie that nods back to the establishment, the “Six-shooter,” for the well dressed ‘rebel’, and the Shoreditch, which Palmer recalls is from a popular pattern he observed living in the north London neighborhood.  The fall collection also includes bow-ties with a repetitive tailor needle, and a line of silk and cotton squares that evoke classic patterns and quirky designs (the “epsicle” pays tribute to the creator of the popsicle). They’re also developing a limited square design on canvass cot covers imported from Vietnam. The winter will bring new things, according to Palmer, including scarves and socks.

Berre says the name of their fall line, “Beg, Borrow and Steal” belies their approach and addresses the realities of starting your own venture from scratch. Berre says they’re calling in every favor from friends and family, using public relations’ resources, identifying retail contacts, and simply spreading the word. The first of two events to launch the collection occurs at the Rookwood Bar in Mt. Adams on Thursday, November 11.  The ‘friends and family’ launch is open to the public and will provide an opportunity to purchase items from the fall line. Palmer and Berre will also take part in a showcase this coming Saturday to preview the line with other vendors.  On tap for the future are possible collaborations with local and national figures to benefit local charities, and involvement in Cincinnati Fashion Week. In the meantime, they’ll launch their website with tips on style, quotes, and general discourse about men’s behavior, just like their 16th century inspiration.

The line is currently available at Pomegranate and Lime in Mariemont and through their online store, with prices ranging from $85 to $89 for ties, and $28-$70 for squares. The goal, according to Palmer, is to make “timeless pieces, things that last.”

“You can buy fashion but you can’t buy style,” he adds.

Photography by Scott Beseler.
All photos taken at the Cincinnati Athletic Club