In recent years, high street brands and designer fashion houses alike have embraced a more relaxed aesthetic. Unstructured, athleisure, oversized – AKA anything to disguise “lockdown bod” and to look vaguely presentable at your next Zoom meeting.

Those pining for more sartorial refinement will be pleased to know that 2024 is shaping up to be the year that formal dressing is finally back on the cards. At men’s fashion week in Milan back in January, neckties and tailored pieces dominated the catwalks, as seen at the shows of Prada, SS Daley and Sabato De Sarno’s highly anticipated menswear debut for Gucci.

It’s music to the ears of the designers at Favourbrook. Not that the British company has changed tactics much over the past 34 years, as one of the UK’s few and far-between independent formalwear retailers. Founded in 1990, the brand has long marched to the beat of its own drummer, employing an aesthetic that combines traditional tailoring with a dash of eccentricity in that quintessentially British fashion. Favourbrook was started by designer Oli Spencer, who was fresh out of art school and initially making a living by selling second-hand clothing on Portobello Market. He was given the chance to turn luxury surplus silk into waistcoats, which became the foundation of Favourbrook before it opened its doors on London’s famous Jermyn Street. The company’s inimitable style and profile were later boosted by a star turn from Hugh Grant and co in the 1994 hit romcom Four Weddings and a Funeral.

For over 30 years, Favourbrook has eschewed trends, as well as the inherent rigid stuffiness of formal dressing and tailoring, in favour of a more individualistic approach. Something which continues in the latest collection.

‘As always with Favourbrook, we try to push the envelope when it comes to redefining modern elegance, and this season we’ve sought inspiration from the art of flora and fauna,’ commented Oli Spencer on the spring/summer 2024 campaign. ‘We’ve taken inspiration from the Impressionists when it comes to the colour palette and have directly drawn from nature with regards to some of the stunning embroidery in our formal jackets.’

Spring/summer 2024 sees Favourbrook’s signature fine tailoring – think morning dress and glamorous eveningwear – as well as the introduction of a seasonal linen suit collection in earthy tones. ‘My favourite is the soft sage green,’ says Spencer. ‘Elsewhere, our cigar brown dinner jackets are really majestic and will certainly turn heads this summer.’

And, in other news, Favourbrook is once again the Official Menswear Licensee for Royal Ascot (18-22 June 2024), the most prestigious of Britain’s racing events – with a notoriously scrupulous dress code. But never fear if you’re attending for the first time and don’t know where to begin. Favourbrook’s Royal Ascot capsule collection features exquisite morning suits in traditional black, charcoal and navy. ‘But it’s the other variables, such as the tie and waistcoat, which afford the wearer more personal expression,’ explains Spencer, ‘and we have a plethora of new Italian silk ties and pocket squares to complement one of the most eclectic waistcoat collections in the world.’

favourbrook.com