Simon Spurr, nattily attired in one of his three-piece suits, attends the Fashion’s Night Out festivities at Bergdorf Goodman in 2010, with Apollo in tow. Below, the actor Ed Westwick, wearing a SIMON SPURR evening suit to the BAFTA Ones to Watch Awards in Los Angeles, is among Spurr’s celebrity fans. Opposite: British
CO U RTE S Y O F S I M O N S P U R R ; PAT R I C K M C M U LL A N
tailoring and attention to details, such as wool-mohair fabrics, black leather bibs on shirting, and wide cowls, define SIMON SPURR’s Autumn-Winter Collection.
Saint Laurent, Calvin Klein, and Ralph Lauren is apparent. He approaches menswear with a sublime focus on color, proportion, and “deliberate subtlety,” or, as Esquire called them, “killer details,” like jaunty horizontal pinstripes on a jacket sleeve, luxe diamond patterns in his fabrics, and exaggerated pocket squares that seem to bloom from a jacket. The result is an unfailingly sophisticated yet wholly modern British elegance (think Duke of Windsor perfectionism meets James Bond cool). Unlike many designers who start with a sketch and then put it to fabric, Spurr tends to begin with the fabric. From there, “execution is everything,” he explains. “Anything I do is all about the material and proportion.” And that is what the most discerning of dressers appreciate best. One
high-profile devotee, who recently flew cross-country for a custom fitting, explains that Spurr’s “vision for high-quality craftsmanship and age-old tailoring gives me confidence. His medium is menswear, but the place he is coming from is what all artists aspire to—the next evolution.” Indeed, Spurr is advancing menswear to the next level, yet always with a deeply rooted regard for its traditional past. For his current AutumnWinter Collection, he’s pared down on colors and patterns (he’s usually prone to throwing in punches of purples and playing with outsize plaids and checks), while introducing some serious—“slightly sinister”—touches, like cowls and hoodies, but he remains steadfast in the finishing details, like fully canvassed tailoring, hand-finished leather, and knit cashmeres. What emerges is a gentleman, S E P TEM B ER 2 0 1 1 1 0 7