Tom Stubbs - Thomas Stubbs

THE SHARPENER
right on track
Menswear designers are moving
the goalposts in sportswear – with
winning results. Tom Stubbs reports
62
32
OUT AND ABOUT
l A collaboration between Mackintosh
and Japanese brand Hyke has produced
three refined interpretations of classic
coats. My favourite is the streamlined
trench (£850, pictured right) with throat
storm-flap, epaulettes and complex half
raglan sleeve cut. A hooded coat is a
modern cape/duffel hybrid (£820),
while the third coat has narrow lapels
and patch pockets (£770). Versions in
rubberised beige are cool, but don’t
overlook those in sheeny navy or black
nylon/satin (lined in orange like an
MA1 bomber), or Japanese bonded
denim that looks like grainy chambray.
Hyke, www.hyke.jp. Mackintosh, 19
Conduit Street, London W1 (020-7493
4667; www.mackintosh.com).
and hem and matching knee-length
drawstring gym shorts (£99, both
pictured bottom far left). At 66, wiry
Cabourn is fighting fit, working out
every day. “I train early morning,
and the gym I go to is very cold,
so the range not only looks
great but is also designed to
wear layered up for warmth.”
At the other end of the tech
spectrum, Ralph Lauren has
just launched the Polo Tech
shirt ($295, pictured below
– available in the US only
at present), a shiny black
training top with a large
yellow polo player that
monitors energy levels,
breathing, heart rate and
calories ­­– intel it feeds into
a smartphone via an app to
create bespoke workouts. ✦
L
SPORTING CHANCE
bottoms (£285), shorts
with pintuck pleats (£190,
pictured far right) and
matching hoodie (£415),
while the viscose hoodie
(£415) and sweat top (£235)
channel the oversized trend.
Sportswear also punctuates main
collections. Alexandre Mattiusi, creative
director of much-talked-about French
label Ami, has designed athletic
silhouettes for spring that echo early1980s prestige tracksuits – in bright red
Far left: Joseph viscose
Rochester top, £365, and
viscose twill Bradford shorts,
£235. Near left: Hermès
Toilovent jacket, £2,065,
and jogging pants, £1,050.
Right: Ami cotton jumper,
£145, and jersey trackpants,
£115. Below far left: Nigel
Cabourn cotton jersey Army
Gym crewneck, £150, and
gym shorts, £99. Below
left: Z Zegna techmerino/
nylon fleece, £420
Ami’s athletic
silhouettes for spring
echo early-1980s
prestige tracksuits
or teal jersey with white flocking
(trousers £115, pictured right). Joseph
takes sports detailing and fabrication
and reworks them splendidly; especially
strong is a viscose twill top (£365) in
maroon or multicheck and drawstring
shorts (£235, both pictured top left).
Matchesfashion.com’s Activewear
Studio spotlights new sportswear with
fashion clout, and one new arrival I have
my eye on is Brandblack, from Parisborn New Yorker David Raysse. My
picks are the Akira side-zip sweatshirt
(£98), Dekkard raglan-sleeve jacket
(£160, pictured far right centre) and
Vector tracksuit bottoms (£105) in
either silver grey or muted Prussian blue
polyester/Spandex – a kind of futuristic
neoprene look that’s part space-age
wetsuit, part varsity tracksuit.
Elsewhere, menswear designer Tim
Soar’s clean, pared-down aesthetic finds
compelling new expression in his highperformance, cool-looking label Soar
Running. An exceptional piece is the
wind- and rain-proof body-con Softshell
running jacket (£199, pictured above
centre) in stretch Schoeller fabric – with
back pockets, underarm zip vents and
thumb mitts. But the whole collection
– all laser-cut and bonded – is worth
attention. Take a look at the race
vests (£45) and T-shirts (£54),
shell jackets (£150) in rich blues
and cream for low-light conditions,
and ultra-lightweight rain jackets
(£150) and gilets (£125).
Nigel Cabourn has also
broadened his style focus,
applying his rigorous standards of
manufacture and design to sports
kit inspired by the second world
war. Cabourn favours old school
over high tech, and the Army Gym
range features sweats and tees in raw,
rough-looking marl grey and navy jersey
made on slow-knit looms. I like the
hooded cardigan (£225) and crewneck
cotton jumper (£150) with ribbed cuffs
howtospendit.com
howtospendit.com
Alexander Wang, 43-44 Albemarle Street,
London W1 (020‑3727 5568; www.
alexanderwang.com). Ami, 75 Duke Street,
London W1 (www.amiparis.fr). Brandblack,
www.brandblack.com and see Matchesfashion.
com. Hermès, 155 New Bond Street, London W1
(020-7499 8856; www.hermes.com). Joseph, 74
Sloane Avenue, London SW3 (020‑7591 0808;
www.joseph-fashion.com). Matchesfashion.
com, 87 Marylebone High Street, London
W1 (020-7487 5400; www.matchesfashion.
com). Nigel Cabourn, The Army Gym, 28
Henrietta Street, London WC2 (020-7240
1005; www.cabourn.com). Ralph Lauren,
1 New Bond Street, London W1 (020‑7535
4600; www.ralphlauren.co.uk). Soar Running,
020‑7253 8226; www.soarrunning.com.
Z Zegna, 124 New Bond Street, London W1
(020‑7495 8260; www.zegna.com).
l Family-run belt brand
Anderson is always pushing the
style envelope. Known for unusual
plaited belts, it currently has
stylish viscose/waxed cotton
versions (£94, pictured left) in
orange/taupe and grey/taupe, and
calf leather/waxed cotton woven
ones (£84) in navy and cocoa.
Available at www.mrporter.com.
BEN BENOLIEL. GEORGE ONG (2). NATHANIEL ROSA
ast month saw Hermès
launch Sport En Ville, the
French luxury house’s first
range of sports clothing – and
the best-looking sportswear
I’ve seen yet. A vibrantly
coloured collection of jackets
(£2,065), gilets (£1,580), shorts (£770)
and cuffed trackpants (£1,050) is made
from Toilovent, a waterproof canvas
exclusive to Hermès, which has a supple,
matt handle. The tomato red tracksuit
(pictured right) with white zip detailing
is particularly knockout.
But Hermès is just one of a number
of fashion houses and designers turning
to sportswear. Zegna has developed a
sophisticated mélange techno-fabric from
merino wool and nylon that has thermo
regulation and extra breathability for its
diffusion line Z Zegna. A jade tracksuit
zip top (£253) with narrow trousers
(£290), a pair of mottled grey shorts
(£253) and a navy gilet (£420, pictured
below right) look especially good.
At T by Alexander Wang, the designer’s
utilitarian aesthetic is applied to
sportswear in the brand’s signature
muted palette of washed blacks, gunmetal
greys and dusty olives. Tailoring details
such as pleats and fly fronts can be seen
in the beautifully finished Scuba tracksuit
Tom Stubbs
From top: Soar 3XDRY
Softshell running jacket,
£199. T by Alexander Wang
cotton sweat shorts, £190.
Brandblack Dekkard neoprene
raglan-sleeve jacket, £160.
Ralph Lauren polyester/nylon/
Spandex Polo Tech shirt, $295
l This spring sees shoemaker
Mr Hare launch a ready-towear clothes collection.
Scarlet and midnight-blue
Berber tunics (£150) and
Kikuyu polka-dot trousers
(£240) are what Hare calls
“warrior level” style. Colours
and fabrics have an exotic,
regal quality – especially
striking are the Baking shirt
with Nehru collar (£150,
pictured far right) and largecheck Wolof overshirt (£175,
pictured right centre). The
water-repellent nylon Fulani
mac (£499), cotton poplin
Bobo shirt (£160) and Zulu
jeans (£150, all pictured near
right) are more traditional in
style, but just as exuberant.
22 Powis Terrace, London
W11 (020-7221 4025; www.
mrhare.co.uk).
69