Words: James McCarthy Pictures: Herbert Villadelrey / Hackett London
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U P CLOSE A N D PER SO N A L
GREAT Briton REGIONAL MANAGING EDITOR, JAMES MCCARTHY, GETS SOME SARTORIAL TIPS FROM A QUINTESSENTIALLY BRITISH STYLE ICON: JEREMY HACKETT
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H
ackett is as British as fish & chips, Big Ben and talking about the weather. Along with the likes of Aston Martin, the brand is a global flag bearer for the nation. What do you think it is about the British style - which you and these other brands epitomise that makes it so appealing to the rest of the world?
Well, from a man’s point of view, I think that they look to Britain to show their success, it’s where they have their suits made, where they have their shoes made, where they have their shirts made. Britain is that sort of place. I think it is partly because there is a heritage; there is a sense of occasion with the way that we dress for so many events that doesn’t exist in a great deal of other countries in the way that it does in England. If you are going to the country, you dress for the country, if you are going shooting, you dress for shooting, if you are going racing, you dress for racing, etc. Other countries, perhaps, do something similar, but there is something about the British way of doing it. It possibly goes back to the day of the Empire - we left a footprint on a large portion of the world and while in some respects it was dreadful, in others, I think that we left behind a legacy of certain things that people actually admired. I read a lot about the Chinese billionaires that build their homes brick for brick to look like Blenheim Palace; it seems as though there is something quintessentially ingrained in the foreign psyche about what a British gentleman is. Hollywood seems to just see us as bad guys, but everyone else strives to reach that ideal. Exactly, the funny thing, of course, is that in Britain, nobody ever talks about themselves being a gentleman, it sounds a bit crass. But I do think that distance lends enchantment. There is this whole romantic notion of an English gentleman. Look at Downton Abbey, it has become absolutely massive around the world. An American friend of mine has an estate near Highclere Castle, where they film it, and he is absolutely mad about it. I told him that I had never seen it, and he sent me a box set straight away. It is still wrapped up, I haven’t got
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around to watching it. I saw Gosford Park and that was enough. But yes, that is how they see us, or rather, how they want to see us. As such a quintessentially British tailor, you don’t seem to be as stuffy as some of your Savile Row counterparts. Your stores are also quite funky places to visit. How do you keep the brand energised? We have a lot of young guys who work for us and it is about marrying the tradition while embracing a sort of younger way of putting it together, really. I think, even from the beginning with Hackett, we put the British ideals together, if you will, in a way that seemed to have embraced the way that Italians, or the Spanish, view Britain. Hackett generally represents British ideals but it is British in a European sense. That makes it more accessible generally around the world, rather than just trying to sell the original British clothing ideals. You mean the Savile Row ways of tailoring? In a way, but you do get the best suits in the world from there. Personally, I am not in a least bit intimidated by it, because I know the ins and outs of it. I worked in Savile Row in the 1970s for about three years, but I was in a shop that was a complete contrast from any of the others. It was covered in chrome and shag pile carpet, all brown furniture with brown leathers and it was incredibly avant-garde for its day, but what we made in the shop was incredibly traditional.
In Britain, nobody talks about themselves being a gentleman, it’s a bit crass, but distance lends enchantment. There is this whole romantic notion of an English gentleman.
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I think people find that the atmosphere in Hackett is far more welcoming. You embrace the customer as they come in, regardless of their means. I have always found that the person that comes into the shop who looks the least likely to spend money often turns out to be the best customer. I will always say that to everyone who works in the shop. I had a man who came in when I was in the Sloane Street branch, it was a Saturday morning, and he was a scruffy looking bloke and quite a large man. He said that he wanted a cardigan. So, I found him a cardigan to put on, and then he said he needed some trousers and I knew straight away that we didn’t have his size, but told him that we could make a pair. So, I took him upstairs to our tailor, and from that day, until the end of the year, he spent forty thousand pounds with us having stuff made. When he walked in the door you wouldn’t have thought that this guy was going to buy a thing.
fashion. Most of men’s clothing comes from a practical purpose. But you don’t often see turned-back cuffs, because it’s difficult to do on a readymade suit. I like it, particularly on a suit that’s quite plain, it just stops it looking like an average, off-the-peg suit. A double-cuff shirt is also a must too, in my opinion. Men get so few opportunities to wear jewellery, and a nice pair of cufflinks, matched to the watch, obviously - silver cufflinks, steel bracelet, just looks great. What are your sartorial pet peeves? Something that really annoys me is seeing men with the wrong buttons done up on their suit's jacket. So often, you'll see a chap with a three-button suit and all of the three buttons are
Let’s talk a little bit about your style. You are a sartorial icon, so I want to take this rare opportunity to ask you for a few tips. What are the staple items that every man should have in his sartorial armoury, what is the best way to use them and what should you consider when shopping for them? I am going to say what I always say, every guy should have a navy blue blazer. I have probably written that on my Mr Classic blog a couple of times. Navy blue is probably my favourite colour, not that I am wearing it now. It doesn’t have to be a double breasted, brass-buttoned number. It just has to be some sort of blue tailored jacket. It could be cotton, unstructured, one button, two buttons, three buttons, patch pockets, but as long as it is navy blue and something you can dress up or down with a pair of jeans or grey flannels. As I have said before, it is the man’s fashion equivalent of a lady’s black dress. It can take you anywhere and it’s the easiest jacket to wear. Every guy should have one. The other thing, if you are only going to have one suit, it should probably be navy blue. Buy one good suit instead of three cheap ones, as well, and always buy good shoes. I have an expression that my father gave me, which was: “I am too poor to buy cheap shoes.” I think that is a really good line. [laughs] I think it was just his excuse for buying expensive shoes, actually. What should a man look for when buying a suit? A decent suit starts with the shoulder. If the shoulder’s right, everything else follows. It’s about getting the right silhouette. It’s the hardest part of a suit to construct; the sort of padding you use makes a great deal of difference, as does how you set the sleeve into the shoulder. It’s pretty skilled work, actually. Obviously, the cloth has to be decent, but it’s also about making sure you’ve got good buttons. Well, it’s all of the little details, really, like working buttons on the cuff of the jacket, that kind of thing. It’s mostly about going for something that’s not obviously a fashion statement. I’m pretty old fashioned about suits. I grew up selling them in the 70s and Savile Row taught me a lot about a good suit. I’m admiring your turn-back cuffs. It comes from quite an old English thing. You used to see a lot of chaps from the horse racing fraternity wearing jackets with them. I think its military in origin, like so much else in men’s
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Hackett has stores all over the region, with the most recent opening in Qatar.
done up. Either that or they have a two-button suit and both buttons, or just the bottom one, is done up. It just irritates me and I see it so often television with newscasters and politicians who should really know better. Also, logo t-shirts on men who are too old to wear them. Band t-shirts, or those with some ironic or witty statement on them. It’s fine if you’re a skater kid, or in your 20s, but on a grown-up man, I think it’s time to put them away. The odd person can get away with it, but on the whole, I don’t think most guys should do it. Don’t tell me, [laughing] you have a wardrobe full of Black Sabbath t-shirts? I certainly wouldn’t wear one to interview Jeremy Hackett, my mother would kill me! A funny story about the Prince of Wales, Edward VIII, who today is considered quite a stylish dresser, but in his day was quite a cad, you know? Breaking all the rules and so forth. He went to see his father, George V, by appointment of course, and went into his office, and his trousers had turn-ups. The King looked at him and said: “Come back when you’re properly dressed!” [laughing] Can you imagine that today? Turned away for having turnups? These days, I’d be thinking, “Thank god! He’s got turn-ups on his trousers, come and sit down.” Of course, his grandfather, Edward VII, was quite the sartorial pioneer too. Didn’t he single-handedly invent the dinner jacket by lopping off the tails of his coat at a dinner party? He was also the chap who instigated the tradition of undoing the bottom button of a waistcoat. After a big dinner, he undid his, and everybody else in the room followed suit. It has since become the rule.
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A decent suit starts with the shoulder. If the shoulder’s right, everything else follows. It’s about getting the right silhouette. Talking about dinner jackets, a couple of months back I was invited to go on the radio by the BBC, and I remember reading somewhere that, back in the old days, all the presenters would wear black tie and tails, even though they were only on the radio. So, for a the hell of it, I turned up in full evening dress. Of course, everyone else was just sitting around in jeans and t-shirts. I acted surprised, exclaiming, “I thought this was how you were supposed to dress for radio!” It raised a laugh and broke the ice. I was asked recently, “If you were stranded on a desert island, what couldn’t you live without?” Or some such thing, and I think I said, [in a mock-haughty voice] “my dinner jacket, of course, because it doesn’t matter where one is, one must maintain standards.” [laughs] Joking aside, though, I wonder whether, despite being on the radio, if wearing a dinner jacket ecouraged a certain air of gravitas in the way they delivered the news than if they had been slouching around in a battered cardigan and corduroys? I believe it probably did, because clothes, especially well made clothes, do have a way of increasing confidence and making you behave differently. For more style tips, read the Mr. Classic blog at www.jeremyhackett.com
. sur la terre . up close and personal .