Like all good tales of New Zealand ingenuity, the Working Style story revolves around satisfying a basic human need: the need to have a sartorial edge over your fellow man. Chris Dobbs first harnessed this primal urge in 1987, when he began selling made-to-measure shirts door-to-door - initially to fill the time between the end of his business degree and the beginning of his career, and then because he recognised you didn't need a career when you could have a business. After conscripting brother Tim to the cause, the Dobbs boys took their made-to-measure market niche by the horns and rode it through the streets of Auckland to 523 Parnell Road, an address that is still the flagship site for Working Style. Suits followed shirts, then casual wear and accessories joined the fray. Before too long, a man could walk into Working Style and leave with a totally new view of himself. Distinctly dapper, but with the underlying feeling that he could do a valve grind at short notice if required. Today the style philosophy that drives Working Style exists somewhere between likely lad and landed lord. It sits comfortably astride a motorcycle, but can also command undivided attention around the boardroom table. Guided by directors Chris Dobbs, Tim Dobbs and Andrew Cole - Working Style now has its eye on attaining a presence beyond the shores of New Zealand, one well-shod step at a time.
