When I first went freelance, the most common question I encountered was if I worked from home in my pyjamas. The answer has always been no. It is my number one rule: dress for the day. If you let that one slip, what’s next? Tuning into Maura and Dáithí over a leisurely lunch? As delightful as that might sound, it won’t pay the bills, let alone the TV licence. Now, as the world adjusts to work minus the commute, how you dress is being shown up for the powerful force it is.

Most of us have spent the last few weeks discovering that trying to download Microsoft Teams while munching a week’s supply of Club Milks may not require a power suit. But equally, slouching around in a tracksuit and moth-holed T-shirt isn’t exactly a recipe for productivity. There’s also the dreaded possibility that when you eventually do get Teams to function, a client will request an immediate video conference. Whether you care for fashion trends or not, one thing is certain: what you wear matters.

Science has discovered the clothes we wear affect our behaviour, attitudes, personality, mood, confidence, and even the way we interact with others. They call it “enclothed cognition” which basically means clothing impacts how we think. What we wear and what others wear changes our thought patterns and impact various psychological processes like emotions, self evaluations, attitudes, and interpersonal interactions.

One man who needs no convincing is Louis Copeland. He has built a business on the potency of power dressing. A third-generation tailor and chairman of Louis Copeland And Sons, Ireland’s leading luxury menswear retailer, Copeland admits he took his time coming round to the idea of Casual Friday, but is vehemently opposed to the prospect full time, and not just because it’s bad for his business, but yours too.

“Dress as though you are going out to meet a client, because if you only dress from the waist up, you’re only half serious.

“If you’re casual in your clothes, you’ll be casual in your job. There’s something about putting a suit and tie on. I think people are going to up their game a bit, even working from home. They need the routine of dressing themselves as if they are going to work, because if you’re too casual you’ll laze around the house.”

Having embraced the joys of video conferencing in recent days himself (fully suited of course), Copeland believes that making an effort pays off and doesn’t endorse the concept of half-dressing that is cropping up in hilarious memes online. “I know people can wear something on top and then tracksuit bottoms, but don’t do that. Dress as though you are going out to meet a client, because if you only dress from the waist up, you’re only half serious. Go the full way.”

A family enterprise

Louis Copeland with his son Louis

Louis Copeland And Sons, as the name suggests, is a family business. “My grandfather was a tailor who came from Lithuania. The story goes he was on a boat and thought he was heading to New York but ended up in Cork.” Hyman Kaplan was a Jew who came to Ireland in 1912, changing his surname to Copeland and converting to Catholicism to marry his Irish wife. The couple had two children, a boy and a girl. “My aunt was a trouser maker and my father was a tailor and cutter.” Louis Senior took over the business on Capel Street, but it was under Hyman’s grandsons, Louis and Adrian, that it flourished. Copeland’s son, also named Louis, and Adrian’s son Adrian also work in the business.

They now employ 65 people and have seven stores – five in Dublin (which includes Gant in Dundrum), one in Galway, and the newest addition to the retail family in Cork. Opened last November, this store was something of a milestone for the Copelands with the business going full circle back to the county where their grandfather first landed. Whilst a sweet anecdote, it was more likely the influx of tech and pharma companies to the city that twisted their arm, presenting an opportunity too good to miss. “Years ago it was hard to open in Cork, but there were so many customers coming from there and you know that old saying if ‘Muhammad can’t come to the mountain, the mountain must go to Muhammad’.”

And while Copeland might be an advocate for sharp dressing, he knows what people want. “The one disadvantage we have down there is that most people associate us with just suits, but a big part of what we do now is business casual. With so many new companies there they don’t want to buy cheap garments, they have the money to buy better, quality casual clothes.”

The importance of staff, and relationships

Prior to the Covid-19 crisis, Cork had been performing well. “It was still early days, but we knew how important it was to employ local people. Nigel O’Sullivan is the manager and is very well known. He knows everybody. He’s small and bald and looks like me.”

“We had to get rid of the spring stock because there’s no point hanging on to it. We’re not going to make money, but we won’t lose it either.”

Copeland’s employees are a recurring topic throughout our interview. He calls them “lifers” due to staff turnover being so low. He has invested in his people and despite the current state of play, continues to do so. “It’s all about relationships,” he says citing another well-known Irish entrepreneur, the late Fergal Quinn as a role model. “Customer is king and it’s important to look after them, but it’s really important to look after your staff as well.” Although his employees aren’t able to work under lockdown restrictions, he is paying them 70-80% of salaries. He has, however, managed to redeploy many to the virtual world of online, whilst simultaneously bringing that old school Louis Copeland charm to his e-commerce site, an innovation driven by his son, Louis.

“We have them on the phones talking to customers. We’ve taken 40% off everything online, trying to get some money in to keep suppliers. When this is all over you have to deal with your suppliers and pay them and pay your staff. Plus, we had to get rid of the spring stock because there’s no point hanging on to it. We’re not going to make money, but we won’t lose it either.”

Trading online

It’s a simple adjustment, but a smart one and proves this traditional company is more agile than it appears. Customers can ring the staff mobile numbers posted on the website and talk directly to one of the sales team. It is a move that adds lifetime value to the customer, the relationship, and a unique experience. “We know people could be sitting at home, looking at something and wondering if it could fit them. All our staff know the products, features and benefits, so people can make a phone call and say ‘this is what I normally buy, this is my height and my colouring’ and they can get advice. That’s the one huge advantage of having people. It’s all about the personal touch. It’s back to basics and doing what we know.” This communication has opened a new channel for sales that didn’t really exist previously and so far their consumer-centric approach appears to be working.

“When things went well some people got blasé about their customer, but the recession taught us to appreciate what you have.”

“You have to bring what you do in the brick-and-mortar stores online. There has to be communication and someone you can talk to. It can’t just be pictures. If you have a good online store with human interaction, I think that’s where you’re going to score. If people are going to make a big purchase, they want to know what they’re buying. We actually did follow up calls when the online thing got really busy a few weeks ago. We checked in with our customers to make sure they received their orders and to see how they got on with it. It’s amazing the amount of business you got by just talking to people. It’s all about communication.”

Copeland has also been dialling into video conferences with the International Menswear Group, an exclusive group of like-minded family-owned and managed retailers around the world, who under normal circumstances meet once a year. Only the best retailers from each country are invited to join and Copeland has been finding support in their shared experiences. “It was interesting to get perspectives from all over the world. We had retailers from Australia, Canada, Turkey, America, Spain, Italy and it was interesting to get their views on what turnover is going to be like and how their governments are helping them.

“All said the one thing is to communicate with your suppliers, because you’ll need them when you reopen. Everyone has to take pain right now. Suppliers have to take pain, landlords have to take pain, everyone has to take pain. What I learned in the last recession is to look after your customer. When things went well some people got blasé about their customer, but the recession taught us to appreciate what you have.”