About Permanent Style

 

 

Permanent Style is a global authority on classic and luxury menswear.

One of the biggest such sites in the world, it receives up to 600,000 page views every month, and is read by over 1 million unique users every year.

Founded by professional journalist and editor Simon Crompton, Permanent Style has been listed as one of the best men’s sites in the world by GQ, EsquireThe Times, How to Spend It, The New York Times and many others.

Since its launch in 2007, Permanent Style has grown largely on the back of word-of-mouth recommendations by men looking for real journalism and intelligent advice on style and luxury clothing.

Simon’s background and unique access to industry figures have enabled him to assess everything from the best bespoke tailors to the value chain in luxury retail, giving his followers unvarnished reports and in-depth analysis.

The access and experience comes from over a decade of using bespoke makers, visiting factories around the world and interviewing both craftsmen and designers at the world’s leading manufacturers.

He is now an industry figure himself, frequently called upon by brands to give them advice on social media and digital communications, as well as a style icon profiled in publications as far apart as Peru, Spain and Japan.

In 2010 Simon began a series of collaborations with favourite makers, leading to unique designs for polo shirts, sweaters, cufflinks and coats that are offered on Permanent Style in limited runs. In each case, Simon’s aim was to create the perfect garment, often identifying gaps in the brands’ existing range. Several have gone on to become mainstays of those ranges.

Simon is the author of six books to date. Four were produced with publishers: Obsessions: Tailoring (Hardie Grant), Best of British: The stories behind Britain's iconic brands (Prestel), The Finest Menswear in the World: The craftsmanship of luxury (Thames & Hudson) and The Sartorial Travel Guide (Thames & Hudson). And three have been self-published: Permanent Style (2015), The Style Guide (2017) and Bespoke Style (2020).

 

 

Policy on funding

Permanent Style never accepts payment for articles, Instagram posts or any other form of coverage. The belief is that is not transparent enough for the reader, and undermines the credibility of the entire site.

The website is mostly funded through advertising - with again, a strict separation between it and the site’s content.

Permanent Style also receives income from the products, on the Shop section of the website. Here it is acting like any other retailer - designing and buying stock. These products are always clearly labelled as ‘collaborations’.

The writers sometimes receive free products or discounts on products. This does not affect coverage of those products, as the reviews of them regularly make clear.

As much as possible, this approach  is communicated to brands in advance, so they can engage with the process. The door is also left open for any changes or improvements to the product in the future.

For more on this policy, see post here: 'Are you for sale?'

 

Policy on comments

Permanent Style encourages active discussion among its readers, and contributions from those around the world with specific experiences or information that inform that discussion.

However, it does not permit abusive in any form, and discourages those that add nothing substantive to a discussion. Readers are also encouraged to comment on relevant posts, to build up a body of knowledge on that post over time.

Beyond this, comments and discussion can also be controlled in the interests of the broader readership and aims of the site. Simon aims to curate and guide this discussion in the same way he selects posts to serve those interests. The dominant question is not 'Does this person have a right to comment' or 'Is this critical of Simon' but rather 'Does the reader want to see this?'

All comments are screened, and some are not published for these reasons.

Simon believes that this is a positive form for a modern, digital resource: an open website actively controlled by an authoritative figure. None of the abuse or digressions of a forum; better navigability and organisation than social media.