Remembering Harry Rosen | Canadian menswear mogul dies at 92

Joining me now is fashion journalist Jeanne Becker. Jeanne, thank you very much for joining us today. Well, a pleasure to join you. Sad news on such a happy Christmas day, but absolutely adored Harry and anyone who ever knew him or did business with him or had the glory to really, you know, bask in his light, I'm sure is saddened by his passing. You obviously, I'm guessing you had the chance, you were, could you, would you call yourself a friend? You've interviewed him, I imagine, countless times. What was- Absolutely. What most impressed you about him? He was such a gentleman. I mean, he was just the epitome of chic elegance. The only other figure I can think of, you know, on the international stage that I would compare him to would be Valentino. He really has such savoir-faire. He was just so kind and generous and he was so amazingly caring when it came to his customers. They don't make retailers like that anymore. He built an incredible brand for himself that really raised the bar for men across the country to really get into style and really appreciate style and understand the way in which they have the potential to move through the world. He obviously was all about luxury, but whether you could afford to shop at Harry Rosen's or not, I think every man that ever had anything to do with Harry gleaned so much about style just from talking to him. You know, he was a mensch. He was someone who, he was not really, you know, of that fashion world, although he was in that fashion world. There was nothing pretentious about him. And yet he thrived in it and flourished beyond, I think, what I imagined. Could you imagine making a $500 investment and this is what it became? Unbelievable. And the fact that he groomed his wonderful son, Larry, to really take hold of the business and then lead it into, you know, brave new directions as well, that's great because Larry is a rock star himself. And I'm sure Harry was very, very proud of Larry and all the incredible work that he's done with the brand. But boy, oh boy, you know, you just ask anybody that's ever been in a Harry Rosen store, you know, male or female, the way they were catered to, and you know that all came down from Harry. He was really the one that was making sure that everyone was just treated in the utmost of respect and really just appreciated his customer to such a wonderful degree. We are gonna miss him so much. He was just a sweetheart, the kindest, kindest, sweetest man you could imagine, really elegance personified. Is that the key thing of his legacy or is there more? We're almost out of time. But just what's the one thing that you think he will leave for men in men's fashion? Oh, just to really, you know, rise to the occasion, to really, you know, to live up to your potential. I think that's what Harry was all about and that's what he inspired men right across the country to do. Jeannie, thank you very much for joining us. We're almost out of time. I'd love to talk more about this, but we appreciate you taking some time on this day to talk about him. Take good care, Roger. Thanks so much. Thank you, Jeannie.