Channel 4 anchor man Jon Snow has gained a reputation for his impeccable impeccable designer silk ties And his favourite designer, Victoria Richards, hones her creativity on the back of his loyal custom. Having perfected print techniques Victoria has been working closely with Britain's longest established silk weavers to develop a range of richly textured woven silks. They reflect the vivid colours used in print that originally attracted the attention of Jon Snow, but weave adds another dimension not possible to achieve with print. Victoria's, unique approach to design offers another level of choice for customers seeking individuality and the quality that you expect from the fashion capital of the world.

Victoria has worked with leading British and European fashion designers and produces a range of accessories and garments under her own label, which sells all over the world. Her work is included in the permanent collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum London and the Museum of Fashion and Textiles, New York. She hand prints the designs and experiments with colour placement and proportion and then selects the patterns before committing to print. In other cases meeting with her preferred silk weavers to transform her printed patterns into woven silks ready for making into ties, scarves and garments. This is not the most economical way of doing things but her customers keep coming back precisely because she doesn't cut corners

Few brands can brag true distinction, Vivienne Westwood, Duchamp, Ralph Lauren, Victoria Richards, and Ian Flaherty are some that come to mind. "Principally" based designers are positioned to reap the rewards as customers demand a return to quality as defined by original designs that are made under ethically controlled conditions, preferably on British Soil

If you're looking for a return to traditional quality then do a little research on these names, you're sure to unearth a wealth of products you never knew existed and that in it self can be rewarding: Victoria Richards, Vivienne Westwood, Ian Flaherty, Timothy Everest, Veritas Gifts, Duchamp and Ralph Lauren. If you're not familiar with some of these names, not to worry, now's a good time to change things around: The internet is a good way to start your research and learn quickly just what you've been missing all these years. Even the names you know have new surprises each season, so it pays to keep yourself in the loop. But the name we want to hit on now is Victoria Richards. You can trod the high streets and surf the net but you'll be hard pressed to find anything that compare with liveliness of her woven silk ties

A closing historic anecdote: 1860, the Prince of Wales ordered a short smoking jacket to wear at informal dinner parties at Sandringham from his friend, the tailor, Henry Poole. It was the first dinner jacket on record and was cut in midnight blue cloth. In 1886, a Mr James Potter of Tuxedo Park, New York, was a houseguest at Sandringham. He consequently ordered a similar dinner jacket to Bertie's from Henry Poole & Co. It was this dinner jacket that Mr Potter wore at the Tuxedo Park Club inspiring numerous copies that fellow members wore as informal uniform for stag dinners. Thus the Tuxedo was born at Henry Poole & Co. It took only eight years for an accidental style to cross the Atlantic and soon became an American institution, but what of its origins. There's value in originality, quality and good style.