Meet Orson and Harris

Much like the proverbial London buses, you wait ages and then two come along at once. So it is with our new styles this season. We’re delighted to introduce you to our Orson merino wool casual tops and Harris cotton lyocell blend everyday trousers and shorts. 
 
If you’ve been following Derek Rose for a while, you’ll know that we don’t treat the launch of new products lightly. We often spend years researching and developing products that we think will enrich people’s enjoyment of their free time and we only launch those that we believe are better than what’s already out there. 
 
So given the size of the merino wool top and casual trouser markets, it’s really no surprise we’ve taken so long to release ours. 

Orson 

So, we’re obviously delighted to welcome Orson merino wool hoodies and sweaters into our leisurewear collection. But why choose our merino when so many others offer it too? 

Well, in answer to that we would point out that it’s a bit like the world of cashmere…you can buy cashmere of different grades which will feel different on day one and last differently over time. Needless to say, being advocates of “Sustainability through Quality”, we’re very much in the camp of feeling amazing on days 1 and 601. 

Here’s the low down on this new quality which takes our expanding casualwear offer to the next level. 

The ‘Orson’ Fabric

This is fine gauge merino wool. Great but what does that mean? See below but in brief: you can wear this anywhere and everywhere and it won’t disappoint. 
 

• It’s temperature regulating & naturally breathable. 
• Keeps you warm in winters and absorbs moisture when it’s hot. 
• Odour-resistant, also referred to as the ‘deodorant fibre’. 
• No need to wash every time you wear it. 
• Dries quickly, which is a great thing in warmer weather. 
• Elastic, wrinkle-resistant, so no ironing needed when travelling. 

 
In reality, this fabric is super soft and incredibly fine.  

If you’re so inclined, here’s the technical blurb: 

1. We use a yarn called Avalon 2/80nm which is a superfine merino made using ZQ merino which is a certification of high standards of animal welfare, environmental sustainability, and social responsibility for merino from New Zealand.  
2. The wool used to create this yarn is 14.5micron which is even finer than cashmere. 
3. Knitted in 18 Gauge, 1 end. 

So when do I wear Orson?

Orson sits alongside our new Harris trousers (below), and our other tops and tees.  
 
Think easy, supersoft, casual outfit for any time of the day. Orson tops can be worn directly on the skin or over our undershirts, Basel tees or Barny tees. The hems are finished with our lightweight, super soft self-fabric rib at a tension that sits comfortably on the skin. The fit can be as relaxed or buff as you choose depending on whether you buy to size or above for a looser look. 

Like many of our products, Orson stands out for its extreme softness. Give it a go and you’ll quickly understand what we’re talking about.  

Harris

In the grand scheme of our ‘labours of love’, Harris is right up there for having been a very difficult product to develop. That’s the truth. 

For our first ever casual trouser, that is to say, not resortwear or leisurewear alone, we knew it had to be special. Our aim was to marry the best fabric with superb style and function. 

The ‘Harris’ Fabric

If you ask our design team about this, they might cry. It’s taken so long to reach our goal that at many stages we feared we’d never get there. Our aim was to take the feel and functionality of our best-selling micro modal fabrics and marry that with the function and performance of cotton. 
 
The result is Harris and it’s a wonderful material. Soft to the touch but softer yet on the skin. It feels quite light but then keeps you warm in cool temperatures and cool in warmer conditions due to the thermoregulating properties of the blend. It sits perfectly in the smart casual bracket, in that the straight leg looks smart but the relaxed, elasticated waist with internal tie combined with the stretch we’ve added to the material makes it comfortably casual to wear. 

One of our secret ingredients in Harris is the Lyocell. This is made using sustainably harvested beech trees in a closed loop system, which means the water and chemicals are reused. It’s the properties of this fibre that allow the yarn to behave a bit like wood and expand and contract in warmer and cooler temperatures. 
 
Here's the lowdown on why Harris is special: 

• Long lasting softness 
• Great colour retention 
• Naturally anti-bacterial 
• Crease resistant & keeps its shape 
• Durable 
• Breathable 
• Thermoregulating 

We’ve been wearing our Harris prototypes during testing in both summer and winter, and it hasn’t let us down. Combined in the summer with our lighter weight tees, polos or linen shirts for sunshine lunches or warm weather dinners. As the weather turned colder we’ve been combining Harris with our new all year round Barny tees, Orson tops or Finley cashmere. A true travel essential, it’s one of those products that you just find an excuse to wear. 
 
Both Harris and Orson are very much a typical Derek Rose product in that, like so much of what we do, the “Ah” moment comes when you try it on.