What Am I Doing Here? “Walking is a virtue, tourism is a deadly sin.” ― Bruce Chatwin, What Am I Doing Here? It’s not the worst of things to ask oneself, “What am I doing here?”, or perhaps better yet “How the hell did I get here?” I cringe when I look at the date of our last Journal update. You see, during that time, our words have transgressed beyond written form and have taken on a life of their own in our beloved Imperial Black. What was once threatened has now become reality We have toiled (well, toiled might be a bit strong) all spring and summer to bring our offerings to a few more of you loyalists and while we are quite certain that the original members of The Blacklist don’t quite qualify as a board of directors, it was only with their approval that we decided to pull back the curtain just a bit. We are delighted with the outcome and we certainly hope that you will be as well. , Going legit has really cramped our usual travel circuit during which we instead kept our heads down and got everything sorted. God forbid, we actually feel gainfully employed which is a bit of a shock to our systems. Getting up early is anathema to us unless there is bottomless powder on the menu, an early morning ground swell, or a bush plane to catch. We are reminded daily of our commitment to bring Imperial Black to you by our shockingly early alarm clocks. During this transition time, we did manage to go back and forth to our northern Italian workshop and lolled about Florence during Pitti Uomo, took in some matches in Barcelona, hit the America’s Cup (nice comeback), and the harvest further north as well as the odd smattering of decadent house parties in the country. Yet even as we traveled, acquiring lust-worthy items to pass along, we felt an infidelity at play. Thoughts kept returning to our new stateside outpost, the old building that once housed a post office (quite fitting don’t you think?), and the satisfying work being done there. This new outpost really has become a club house of sorts, a repository for experiences honed in far flung corners of the world and a home for heirloom quality goods and the artists and craftsmen that produce them…..a good place to make our stand and perpetuate our reputation as a group that knows the value of well-made items and one with a passion to share our closely held knowledge. We’ve said before that we never set out to sell shirts and yet here we are now with a smattering of treasures that even E.M.M. would be pleased with. However, don’t expect massive fanfare or an assaulting rollout. As in all that we do, Imperial Black will continue to operate on the quiet, softly making our colourful noise and emerging from the shadows every now and then with items of intrigue, astonishing beauty, and uncompromising quality. We remain committed to the very same charge set forth to our friends all that time ago. Safe Travels.
