Anita D'Abbondanza doesn't care much for hockey. Yet she never misses Coach's Corner.
"My husband is a big hockey fan and it's always on the TV. I run in when Don Cherry's on."
If Mr. Cherry and the CBC part ways, no one will miss him more than she. You see, Ms. D'Abbondanza is Mr. Cherry's long-time shirt maker, the woman behind the starchy, monster collars.
"That's a problem for me now," says Ms. D'Abbondanza.
"He's definitely a good customer," she said yesterday. " He's the only guy that can dress like that and look good."
After a Globe and Mail article yesterday saying CBC was preparing to part ways with the colourful hockey commentator, Ms. D'Abbondanza was not alone in thinking about Mr. Cherry's possible departure.
If Mr. Cherry leaves his Coach's Corner perch post-playoffs, most Canadians will miss his outlandish style as much or more than his unpolished pearls of hockey wisdom.
The one-of-a-kind shirt is the backbone of Mr. Cherry's untouchable sartorial persona, which is equal parts dandy and 1930s mobster, topped off with his own brand of bling: tie and collar pins and chunky rings. Then there's the plaid. Lots of plaid, worn with fierce pride.
Mr. Cherry once told me that, "You look first class, you play first class," and that he started his love affair with the high collar and plaid jackets when he coached the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League. He ties his ties in a backward Windsor, with a single knot, by the way.
It makes for such a potent mix: Mr. Cherry has managed to ride an it's-so-bad-it's-good wave straight into fashion iconoclast territory. Even venerable Canadian menswear retailer Harry Rosen, arguably Canada's most stylish man, holds his punches when it comes to dissecting Mr. Cherry's fashion sense.
"He's interesting for me to look at - he wants to be provocative. That's showbiz," says Mr. Rosen by telephone from Florida. "It doesn't draw me into thinking it's bad taste. It's exhibitionism. Things are to the extreme that if I was asked to dress like that, I couldn't do it. You have to be coming from somewhere where the parameters of good taste don't apply."
Ms. D'Abbondanza admits no one comes to her for replicas of Mr. Cherry's shirts; he really is the only one. But she'll still feel the pain if her most flamboyant client cuts back on his annual order of 24 "Don Cherry Collar" shirts, at a price of $325-$345 each.
Ms. D'Abbondanza has been making the trademark shirts for four years at her family's Concord, Ont., wholesale business, La Camicia (the name is soon to change due to trademark issues of another sort). Her father made them for the 20 years before that. Most recently, Mr. Cherry veered from crisp white and ordered a batch in bright colours such as red and blue, which Ms. D'Abbondanza fears she'll never see on the air.
But Mr. Cherry should consider a career in fashion design if hockey commentary peters out, says Ms. D'Abbondanza. He's been a hands-on client, directing her to perfect the long, triple-fused collar and the hidden snap that holds it stiffly in place.
"He's really particular about the shirt," she says. "He doesn't know the patterns but he knows how he wants it to look. We've been working on that snap. Through the years, it's changed a bit. He keeps perfecting it. He knows what he's doing."
He certainly hasn't been spotted by Mr. Rosen in a Harry Rosen store. Mississauga tailor Frank Cosco has been the man responsible for Mr. Cherry's suits since 1985. (Interestingly, Mr. Cosco's son, Mark Cosco, works as a "clothesmanship" trainer at Harry Rosen.) But due to what Mr. Rosen calls Mr. Cherry's "controversial taste," with such turns as all-red ensembles, tacky patriotic ties sent in by fans, and exuberantly mismatched patterns, Mr. Rosen isn't willing to go so far as to imagine a formidable legacy when it comes to the Coach's Corner denizen.
"I observe him for what I think he intends and I dismiss him quickly as far as being a fashion icon."
Toronto menswear designer Farley Chatto goes further than Mr. Rosen, praising the cut of Mr. Cosco's suits.
"The attention to fit and silhouette is amazing," he says. "You know it's not off-the-rack."
Mr. Chatto grew up in Saskatchewan, where Hockey Night In Canada accounted for most weekends' entertainment. He has watched in glee as the outfits got more and more zany over the years.
"I love plaid," says Mr. Chatto. "But he really loves plaid."
"He's supposed to be boisterous and controversial and cause people to stop and think about the players, the management, how the game is played - he puts it all on its ear," Mr. Chatto said.
"It wouldn't be the same if he showed up in an Armani suit."
Globe poll
If Don Cherry leaves the CBC, will you miss him?
No: 12,594 votes; 51%
Yes: 12,004 votes; 49%
Total votes: 24,598