Anyone who’s anyone knows Royal Ascot isn’t really about horse racing. It’s about fashion. Every year, there are two parade rings: one for the prize stallions, and another where top-hatted gentlemen stride through the Royal Enclosure hoping for similar admiration. As the ads say: there’s you you, then there’s the Ascot you.

But personal expression hasn’t always been easy at Ascot. Its dress code is famously strict, leaving little room for individuality and none for flamboyance – especially in the Royal Enclosure. However, in 2024 Ascot appointed its first creative director to help guests be more inventive with their outfits while staying within the rules. But there’s an even easier way to make sure your outfit is as “you” as it is Ascot-appropriate: picking pieces from Favourbrook’s Royal Ascot collection.

Known for its mastery of the morning suit, Favourbrook became an official menswear licensee for Royal Ascot in 2019 and has held the role since. Its 2025 collection has been designed in tandem with the racing event, making strutting into the Royal Enclosure a walk in the park.

‘Above all, the fit of the morning suit is crucial because the perfect silhouette will complement those with good physical proportions and flatter those without,’ says Favourbrook founder and creative director Oliver Spencer, reflecting on the most important part of an Ascot outfit. ‘Besides the morning suit, one’s choice of waistcoat, tie and pocket square is key – this trio is your small but impactful means of personalisation.’

His latest Ascot collection is threaded with such idiosyncratic streaks. There are morning coats in, yes, basic black and classic charcoal, but also grey and navy. Then there are the waistcoats: double-breasted and pastel-coloured, with a few silk patterns for a splash of personality. There are crisp white shirts, spotted silk ties, patterned pocket squares and felt top hats.

‘I’m always looking back at vintage imagery of Royal Ascot racegoers to discern little quirks of dress or personal affectations that I can play with,’ says Spencer. ‘There are some incredible images of gentlemen in the 1920s and ’30s that are always inspiring. Those gents were not only immaculate but quite flamboyant and experimental.’

But while he draws inspiration from the past, Spencer’s Ascot collections are helping shape the future. Women’s dress codes have gradually evolved – in 2016 Daisy Knatchbull made history as the first woman to wear a morning suit in the Royal Enclosure, and jumpsuits have been allowed since 2017 – but men were long restricted to black or grey morning dress.

Until 2021, that is, when Favourbrook was commissioned to create a navy “Furlong” morning suit. ‘I’m very proud of our navy blue morning suit, because it was the first of its kind to be allowed into the Royal Enclosure when we launched it two years ago,’ says Spencer. ‘I think Beau Brummell would have approved.’ 

favourbrook.com