In London, there are more “menswear” streets than just Savile Row. It’s not exactly official, but over time, brands and shopkeepers of a certain persuasion have tended to coalesce, and now the city is flecked with sartorial thoroughfares including Chiltern Street in Marylebone, Lamb’s Conduit Street in Holborn and Redchurch Street in Shoreditch. Jermyn Street in St James’s has long been a menswear mecca, too – a second-city of suiting that complements the Row on the other side of Piccadilly – but a series of new openings (including brilliant shoemaker, Myrqvist) has recently given it a new lease of life, and the new Sunspel flagship might be the best of the bunch.

Founded in Nottingham in 1860, Sunspel is perhaps best known for its loungewear and underwear – the cellular cotton vest is a design classic – but fundamentally, it’s a “wardrobe” brand, meaning it stocks everything from workwear to officewear. Denim, tailoring, swim shorts… you name it. But the breadth of the collection perhaps belies the code of asceticism at the core of Sunspel – a sense that pure design and quality will always trump the shifting seas of trend.

After 164 years in business, the brand has become the de facto choice for anyone looking to hit that sweet spot between timeless and current, and stay comfy doing it. (Therefore, it makes sense that Daniel Craig’s James Bond was a Sunspel man, as is actor Cillian Murphy.)

The new two-floor store is an upgrade on the smaller space Sunspel used to occupy just down the street, and as the freshly anointed flagship, stocks the entire collection. There’s everything from Japanese denim to Caribbean Sea Island cotton and Scottish cashmere, and the best socks money can buy. The suiting, though casual, is well worth a look, too. Think unstructured and easy-wearing.

One of the luxuries of being in business for more than a century and a half is that you have a healthy back catalogue to dip into. Much of the collection, which is still made at the Derbyshire factory Sunspel has occupied since the mid-’60s, is largely unchanged since it was first designed decades, or even centuries ago. Pieces like the classic Henley – one of the brand’s best sellers – were first worn by rowers in the eponymous Oxfordshire town in the early 1900s, and though there have been tweaks, it’s basically the same shirt Sunspel sells today.

That archive forms the basis of an exhibition space at the store that looks to illustrate the brand’s rich and storied history of garment tech development and clothing design.

The latest development is a bespoke fitting service for T-shirts, which is available exclusively at the Jermyn Street store. The service allows clients to take one of the very best T-shirts on the market and improve it by having it cut to fit their exact measurements, and adapted to their aesthetic taste. You can choose the fabric, sleeve length, colour and even pocket location. The service, explains Sunspel CEO Raul Verdicchi, allows customers to make a ‘truly unique’ T-shirt.

‘We are particularly excited for the opening of our new flagship store,’ Verdicchi says. ‘This is our second store opening so far this year and marks an important moment in our journey, offering customers an immersive brand experience, with a dedicated space for Sunspel’s rich archive.’

The arrival of the Sunspel flagship is a feather in Jermyn Street’s cap, and fresh impetus to pay a visit to SW1, but if you’re otherwise located, fear not. A branch of Sunspel can be found on each of London’s “menswear” streets.

sunspel.com