But in 1976,
Stock began exploring his own inspirations. From the perspective of his childhood self, Stock remembered his father, a mechanic who owned a gas station. “He’d walk into the house looking like he came out of a coalmine. But after a shower he would get dressed for dinner in a beautiful shirt. That’s how I came to appreciate the shirt and clothing businesses…just by seeing him every night with these great custom-made shirts.” That year, Stock opened the brand Country Roads, the antecedent to Robert Graham, in order to design shirts and develop the style for which he is now known. Brightly coloured and patterned pieces make up the Robert Graham tailored men’s wear collections. Whether dress shirts, trousers, jackets, or men’s accessories, Stock mixes them together in vibrant, flawless contrast. But undoubtedly, Robert Graham is now known for its shirts—they are so popular that a collector’s club has formed. Each member owns over one hundred shirts, and with fifty-six collectors currently— including a few Canadians—Stock says, “People are actually collecting these like paintings. Some don’t even take them out of the bag. It’s quite heartwarming. Wives come over to me and say they’re losing space in the closet.” Stock’s method of crafting a shirt is a reflection of his meticulous nature and need for creative expression. “When we started eleven years ago, nobody was doing anything with pop to it, or colour, or any kind of embellishments. I tend to be on the conservative side, but I’ll go to parties and really whoop it up…put some wild outfits together. Art is in the eyes of the beholder and everybody sees something different,” he says.
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