Tom Stubbs - Thomas Stubbs

THE SHARPENER
earthen wear
Tom Stubbs
From main picture: Daniel Craig
in Spectre wearing a Brunello
Cucinelli silk/wool/linen jacket,
£2,210, and cotton chinos, £340.
Gieves & Hawkes wool/silk/
linen jacket, £595, silk taffeta
T-shirt, £295, and cotton chinos,
£175. Burberry Prorsum silk/
satin jacket, £1,050. Etro silk
coat, £1,515, cotton shirt,
£280, and silk trousers, £380
New takes on earthy tailoring feel fresh,
but their inherent rebelliousness is
reassuringly familiar, says Tom Stubbs
l Sunspel’s new athletic kit features
a fabric the brand calls “loopback”, which
knits strips of sweatshirt with extra-fine
cotton yarn, giving softness and lightness
– and outclassing jersey in both look and
feel. The bomber jacket (£165, pictured
right) has a particularly great fit,
thanks to elasticated neck, cuffs and
trim. The matching shorts (£85) are
great for post-training, but why
no long track bottoms, Sunspel?
13-15 Chiltern Street, London
W1 (020-7009 0650; www.
sunspel.com).
E
arthy-hued tailoring has
traditionally been seen as
non-conformist. I’m thinking
of the peaty-brown, bronze
and rust suiting favoured
by Miles Davis, Malcolm X
and the Mods in the 1960s,
or the brown suits worn by cinematic
anti-heroes like Dirty Harry and Frank
Bullitt – which seem to underline their
renegade characters. Personally, I’ve
always liked tobacco, bronze or mocha
suits. They allow me to wear the tailored
looks I love without seeming too
straight down the line. I particularly like
Burberry Prorsum’s super-slim caramel
mohair jacket (£995) and trousers
(£495) and bitter-chocolate slim, light
silk/satin half‑canvassed jacket (£1,050,
pictured second from far right), but
the choice this season is superb.
James Bond is another rule breaker,
and I was struck by the suit Daniel
Craig wore in Spectre when Bond and
Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux) were
deposited at a run-down station near bad
guy Oberhauser’s Moroccan base. Swann’s
floaty off-white chiffon top and cream
trousers perfectly offset Bond’s café au
lait silk/wool/linen deconstructed jacket
“A rust linen suit
evokes long
rum cocktails and
lounging on a
shaded veranda”
369_Sharpener_brown.rc_PRESSNEWNEWO&Aagain.indd 1-2
piece – it can be
paired with chocolate
chinos (£155), but
works just as well with
faded denim. There’s more
double-breasted earthy
style at Ferragamo, where
a russet wool jacket
(£1,745) is matched with
trousers (£325, both
pictured right) with a
narrow turn-up.
Other relaxed, casual
pieces that have caught my
eye include Hermès’ crisp
dark-brick cotton poplin
jacket with tapered waist
(£1,418, pictured top left),
and the “day silk” pieces in
the new Ralph Lauren Purple
Label collections; the rich doublebreasted mocha silk gabardine
Andrew suit (£3,495, pictured above
left) was an absolute showstopper.
At Gieves & Hawkes, where jacquards
and print designs were inspired by
terracotta-painted floor tiles, patterned
shirts were teamed with a burnt-orange
wool/silk/linen jacket (£595), rust stripe
T-shirt and chocolate chinos (£175, all
pictured top second from far right).
Former chief creative officer Jason
Basmajian took his colours from Puerto
Rico and Cuba: “We wanted a colourful,
rich palette that moved away from the
Mediterranean. I love the idea of cream
and tobacco tones punctuated with a
warm orange.” The rust linen/silk suit
(£995) is also particularly striking:
“There is something nostalgic and old
school about a rust linen suit – it evokes
long rum cocktails and lounging on a
shaded veranda.” However, redheads
like me will probably prefer the brand’s
tactile cocoa linen/silk/cotton doublebreasted jacket (£1,495) – it’s a cracker,
especially when worn with stone chinos
(£175), battered white jeans or wide,
pleated lightweight trousers.
At Etro this colour palette manifests
itself in many guises, from a shawlcollared russet leather jacket (£2,775)
and trousers (£2,930) to knee-length
coats in amber/tobacco silk (£1,515,
pictured above right) or linen (£1,100)
with matching trousers (£355). Paul
Smith has also gone for longer-length
jackets to show off earthy tones, and the
collection mixes an oversized rust
double-breasted jacket (£1,200) with
rock ’n’ roll leather trousers (£1,610)
and winkle-pickers (£320) – once again
oozing rebellious attitude. ✦
TRENDS OF THE EARTH
Boglioli, www.boglioli.it and see Harrods
and Selfridges and other stockists. Brunello
Cucinelli, 3 Burlington Gardens, London W1
howtospendit.com
l I love Italian brand Car Shoe’s new take (£220) on the traditional
plimsoll – a pair of beautifully wrought kicks with a new sneaker-style sole,
contrasting suede panels and hand-stitched edges. They look particularly
good in the dove grey, though gleaming white has classic appeal.
www.carshoe.com and see Harrods, 87-135 Brompton Road,
London SW1 (020-7730 1234; www.harrods.com).
(020‑7287 4347; www.brunellocucinelli.com)
and stockist. Burberry Prorsum, 21-23 New
Bond Street, London W1 (020-7980 8425; www.
burberry.com) and stockist. Etro, 43 Old Bond
Street, London W1 (020-7493 9004; www.etro.
com). Gieves & Hawkes, 1 Savile Row, London
W1 (020-7432 6403; www.gievesandhawkes.com)
and stockist. Harrods, 87-135 Brompton Road,
London SW1 (020-7730 1234; www.harrods.com).
Hermès, 155 New Bond Street, London W1 (0207499 8856; www.hermes.com) and stockist. MP
Massimo Piombo, www.mpmassimopiombo.com
and see Mr Porter. Mr Porter, www.mrporter.
com. Paul Smith, 9 Albemarle Street, London
W1 (020-7492 4564; www.paulsmith.co.uk) and
branches. Ralph Lauren, 1 New Bond Street,
London W1 (020-7535 4600; www.ralphlauren.co.
uk) and branches. Salvatore Ferragamo, 24 Old
Bond Street, London W1 (020-7629 5007; www.
ferragamo.com). Selfridges, 400 Oxford Street,
London W1 (0800-123 400; www.selfridges.com).
COLUMBIA/EON/DANJAQ/MGM/THE KOBAL COLLECTION
(£2,210) and
neat cotton
chinos (£340, both
main picture) – by
Brunello Cucinelli –
paired with a white
shirt and unusually
short tie. The smartly
cut earthy colour
scheme looked
refreshingly crisp
in the hot climate.
The synergy of sunshine and
earth tones goes a long way to
explain why Cucinelli and his
fellow Italians are the leading
protagonists of this trend. Italians
aren’t known for rebelliousness of
style, but they have no hesitation in
wearing strong or unusual colours.
Cucinelli develops the theme with a
subtle check tawny linen/silk/wool
jacket (£1,170) and cinnamon tailored
double-breasted coat in silk/cotton
(£1,290), while Boglioli’s collection –
inspired by Brazil in the 1970s –
includes a chocolate light wool doublebreasted jacket (£700, pictured
bottom left). MP Massimo Piombo’s
unstructured jacket in copper/russet
Dutch cotton (£654) is another notable
Clockwise from left: Boglioli
wool Alton jacket, £700, and
mohair trousers, £220. Hermès
cotton poplin jacket, £1,418.
Ralph Lauren Purple Label
silk gabardine Andrew suit,
£3,495. Salvatore Ferragamo
wool jacket, £1,745, and
matching trousers, £325
32
OUT AND ABOUT
l I’m pleased to see French brand
Officine Générale making its
debut at Harrods. Founder Pierre
Mahéo really understands smart
casual, and the mix of military,
workwear and tailoring elements
played out in quietly superior
fabrics makes for a refined
collection. Strong pieces include
nylon blousons (£288) in dark
slate or navy, chocolate suede
bombers (£745), tailored silk
seersucker jackets (£700), light
poplin fisherman’s chinos (£130),
washed Italian linen chambray
shirts (example pictured right,
£145) and poplin shirts (£125).
Harrods, 87-135 Brompton Road,
London SW1 (020-7730 1234;
www.harrods.com).
howtospendit.com
15/03/2016 10:29