ShortList identifies 12 new head-to-toe retail experiences that allow you to customise your seasonal attire
Create the perfect tie
With Drakes’ new service you can create a tie that’s unique to you: whether it’s the length, width, thickness or fabric.
£155; Drakes London, 3 Clifford St, London W1; 020-7734 2367
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Knits
Customers can choose from a selection of Hawick for Harrods knitwear styles including crew-neck, cable-crew, zig-zag v-neck, classic zip, mock turtle and classic roll-neck. But that's not all – you can also design your own with any of 50 unique seasonal colours ranging from the most conservative shades to bright neons. All styles are 100 per cent cashmere, made in Scotland and take 3-4 weeks to complete.
£269-£349; 020-7730 1234 (by appointment only)
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Jeans
Dutch brand Denham has launched ‘Service Co’: a new option where staff can alter the fit, shorten the leg, repair tears and even handwash your jeans to give them a more lived-in feel. A smart move for wiser consumers.
From £6 for a custom label up to £12 for select rivets and buttons; 32 Charlotte Rd, London EC2; denhamthejeanmaker.com
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Give your watch the personal touch
With years of suitable experience behind them, Bamford Watch Department personalises a wide range of the finest luxury steel sports watches, including models by Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet and Tag Heuer. Customers are also offered a personalisation service for vintage watches they may wish to update.
From £10,000; bamfordwatchdepartment.com/customiser.cfm
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Custom skin-care blends
Create your own private blend of body cleanser, lotion, bath salts or fragrance with this Aveda service. An expert can help you design bespoke fragrance through a series of questions and scent tests. Your chosen scent will then be professionally blended with existing base formulas to form the end product.
Personal Blend is available at selected Aveda salons nationwide, from £11.50 for 200ml Personal Blend Body Cleansing Formula to £27.50 for 15ml Personal Blend Pure-Fume; 0870-034 2380
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Add your name to high-end luggage
Salvatore Ferragamo has ensured you won’t be picking up anyone else’s luggage from the airport conveyor belt. Its ‘Made To Order’ service allows travellers to choose from an array of materials such as black alligator leather. Pieces can be personalised with initials stamped on to a nametag.
£195-£1,700; The Ferragamo Travel Made to Order service is available in the Bond St Salvatore Ferragamo store; 020-7629 5007
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Ralph Lauren mesh polo shirts
The Create Your Own Collection option from Ralph Lauren is one of the easiest bespoke services to navigate online. Simply log on, choose whether you would like a small or big pony, a monogram (of either two or three characters), and where you would like them placed. Our tip is to opt for your initials where the pony would normally sit on the breast, and move the pony down to the bottom left corner, close to the hem. Next, choose from 12 wildly varying fonts for your initials, 12 colours for your pony and 12 mesh shirt colours. The options are endless. Almost.
The Create Your Own Collection service costs £80 for a mesh polo with small pony detail and £115 with large pony; ralphlauren.com
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Raincoats
British raincoat brand Hancock will set you apart from the rest. At no extra cost, you can choose any piece in any colour-blocked combination. if you don’t think that’s a good offer, you deserve to get wet…
Coat featured £715; hancockva.com
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Trainers
‘Converse Create’ allows you to design your own pair from start to finish picking every aspect of the shoes (choose from the Chuck Taylor, Jack Purcell or Star Player models), from lining colour to a flash of print down the heel and a whole lot more between.
£55; converse.co.uk
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The ultimate Trench Coat
Every detail of the classic garment can be re-worked to your taste with Burberry – from trench styles and length options to selecting from a range of colours, fabrics and buttons to adjusting the sleeves. Even finishing touches such as a monogramming service are offered. In total, more than eight million options are possible and it can take up to eight weeks to receive your trench.
From £1,095; available online and in-store; burberry.com
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Shoes
Beginning with the finest quality natural hides, each Bally made-to-order shoe is handmade in the original leather then dyed and polished to create the selected colour and achieve a unique antique effect. Full- leather lining and hand-dyed leather soles complement the selected uppers.
From £795; 020-791 7062 to make an appointment
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Create your own skin lotion
Ioma uses MEMS (micro-electronic mechanical systems), a patented skin analysis device, to assess you in less than two minutes. A report will then recommend a prescription.
£290; available at Harrods; harrods.com
