The luxury British company uses artisanal skills to make modern menswear, and seeks out Great British craftsmanship to do so
The craftsmanship that goes into fashion collections can often be obscured by the glitz and glamour that surrounds the circus of catwalks and advertising campaigns, celebrity wearers and shop window displays in the world’s global cities. But many great collections possess a commitment to the skill of artisans.
At Dunhill, this is a tradition that has unusual roots. Back in 1893, Alfred Dunhill took over his father’s business making saddlery and went all-in on a new trend. He opened a store offering, as his strapline had it, “Everything but the motor”. Initially, this meant accessories for the new cars that were being developed – lamps, horns, goggles, luggage and even picnic sets. And decorative pieces too. An early bonnet mascot that belonged to Dunhill himself is of a little devil (dubbed the “Tweenie Devil”) thumbing his nose, a message to the policemen who issued him with an early speeding fine.
The venture used the skills of craftsmen to machine and manufacture metal and leather designs. But over time the products widened to include clothing – first leather coats and caps and gloves, but fast forward to the mid-20th century and there was tailoring, too.
Lovat Mill, maker of tweeds for Scottish estates
This history is front of mind for today’s creative director at Dunhill, Simon Holloway, who though every inch the fashion designer talks like an engineer when he describes how he is focussing on craftsmanship and, in particular, what can be done in Great Britain. He has, for example, been playing with tartan:
‘I wanted to replicate a traditional Scottish tartan using the natural colours of the fleece of cashmere goats,’ he explains. ‘It’s very Duke of Windsor in terms of the menswear canon, but done this way, subverts the tradition into a very easy, neutral luxury item that could be worn by anyone in the world. The fact it’s tartan doesn’t even matter, it’s just a beautiful textile.’
To do this, Holloway travelled to Hawick, outside Edinburgh, to Lovat Mill, which is steeped in manufacturing history, having been in operation since 1882. A maker of tweeds for Scottish estates, it also weaves cashmere for Dunhill. Lovat was charged with creating Dunhill’s new cashmere check, which has been used for an overshirt, a scarf and the lining of a suede jacket.
‘It’s about authenticity but also the capability to develop,’ Holloway says. ‘Lovat holds this bible of reference and tradition. They still make all the Scottish estate tweeds. They have beautiful books that go back through history that have swatches of historic estate tweeds as well as new estate tweeds that have been made for idiosyncratic aristocracy who want to have their own tweed uniform for their gamekeepers,’ he explains. ‘There’s that incredible level of traditional thinking on one hand, but on the other, Lovat’s clients include some of the biggest fashion houses in the world.’
Lovat Mill, maker of tweeds for Scottish estates
It is this duality that appeals to him. ‘The fact that they can create fabric that walks the runways of Paris, but also, on the flip side, create or in some cases recreate traditional patterns and textiles that tell this incredibly rich, long history. I mean, how brilliant is that?’ His desire is to tap into these parallel universes: ‘For us to be able to use both of those worlds simultaneously to create timeless, classical fabrics that we can use to enrich the storytelling of Dunhill is just purely magical.’
It comes down to the time-honoured skills that places like Lovat are preserving. ‘This deep humanity of these artisans that work in the mills, who understand the history of the pattern and the texture and colour mixing – to be able to understand which colours to twist together just to get the perfect nuance that you’re looking for,’ Holloway says. ‘It fills me with emotion when we talk about these people and what their capability is and what that brings to the House of Dunhill.’
