'I am looking for something that I call a 'modern tradition', which draws on all our archive books from 1926 to the present day,' Harrison says. 'The brand has a great club and sporting heritage and I have been trying to soak that up.'

Although Kent & Curwen has a reputation for being as British as afternoon tea, these days the brand is part of the Hong Kong-based Li & Fung empire and operates inside that company's Trinity Group. With 38-year-old Harvard-educated Sabrina Fung as one of three executive directors, Trinity is aiming to become the first Asian-based global luxury goods conglomerate to rival LVMH, parent of Louis Vuitton, and PPR, the owners of Gucci. Trinity operates the Altea, Cerruti 1881, D'urban, Gieves & Hawkes and Intermezzo brands in Greater China and owns Kent & Curwen outright worldwide.

After spells as head of menswear at Gieves & Hawkes and head of formal wear at Marks & Spencer, Harrison, who graduated from Britain's Ravensbourne College of Design, was brought into Kent & Curwen last year to bring its classic DNA up to date.

He has just launched his first collection, for autumn/winter 2010.

'Cut, cloth and colour are the main features of the collection,' Harrison says. 'The colours for this winter are very strong and they are derived from autumnal berries, so we have dark reds, oxblood, knocked back with strong green and some purple and lavender tones.'

Harrison faces a daunting challenge. The kind of clothing that made Kent & Curwen a household name in England sometimes seems as if it's part of a bygone age. Suits and ties used to be obligatory for anyone wanting to enter a bank or office and be taken seriously.

Now, investment bankers frequently abandon their ties, although the look this creates, with shirt collars flapping outside jackets or jacketless trousers hanging beneath a softening midriff, rarely looks stylish.

'People now have the choice to wear a suit in the daytime to be powerfully dressed or save it for an evening event,' Harrison says. 'The decision has become more complex than it was and that makes it more challenging to create the perfect suit.

'The upside is that suits are no longer a uniform. They have become something men can decide to wear as an item for an occasion.'

Harrison doubts that the basic geometry of the suit will ever change, despite the move to more casual wear in the workplace.

'In a sartorial sense I think the collar and lapel will stay and if you change the neck shape you get into futurism with the suit, and that's Star Trek territory,' he says. 'Or you create something that looks more box-like and end up with what looks like a mandarin jacket.'

Harrison shudders at the thought of being seen as a mimic of Asian tradition. In any event, for him, the problem with a tie-less suit actually lies elsewhere, with the shirt.

'Nowadays, we have leaner shirt collars and they are less forgiving,' he says. 'The shirt with a necktie has the collar ends pinned down by the suit. And it looks very neat. Once that is removed things start to fly around. Something I have looked at is the way suits have evolved over the years - and the way we work and what we work with has had a powerful influence.

'So maybe a suit of the future will be designed to carry a BlackBerry or an iPhone or even an iPad. That could be an interesting evolution.'

Kent & Curwen began with regimental ties and cricket sweaters, all created by its founders, who went beyond braiding wool to tying an emotional knot in 1932 - Kent had proposed during a grand tour of Europe the year before. Their marriage launched a thriving business which, by the 50s, was dressing royalty and Hollywood celebrities - although Kent had died in 1939, at the young age of 46.

It was Curwen who guided the quintessentially masculine brand through the second world war and laid the foundation for post-war prosperity. By the time of her death in 1972, Kent & Curwen was dressing the English and Australian cricket teams and their clothes had been seen on actors Sean Connery and Michael Caine, and the Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger.

These 20th-century high points have left behind a rich heritage in the Kent & Curwen archive, which Harrison is seeking to weave into creations that respect the past while pointing towards the future.

'The brand made all sorts of different cabling in wool cricket sweaters and an enormous variety of colours were used in the regimental ties and in sweaters as a signal of rank,' he says. 'I'm selecting from that archive now and using the colours and weaves as an inspiration for new pieces like the oxblood cardigan in the new collection.'

And Harrison is also looking for playful ways to incorporate the brand's familiar couchant logo, featuring the three lions of the royal arms of England, which was originally created in 1195.

With such roots, it isn't surprising that Harrison is approaching his task with a leonine heart.