For Spring / Summer 19, Gieves & Hawkes takes inspiration from the legacy of its famous address, producing a collection that is bold, intrepid and modern in its design.
The façade of the Gieves & Hawkes house is one that signifies both the height of sartorial elegance and the spirit of British adventure. Formerly occupied by the Royal Geographical Society, No1 Savile Row has been the home of pioneering, exploration and the British cultural history it inspired for more than 200 years.
In the 19th century, both Gieves and Hawkes were prominent outfitters to some of the Royal Geographical Society’s most revolutionary adventurers and botanists. This season, creative director John Harrison has taken cues from this part of the house’s history, reimagining the lifestyles and discoveries of Britain’s most famous explorers in flora, fauna and soft, sweeping silhouettes. The resulting collection is one of luxurious design, sophisticated, semi-structured jackets and saturated tropical tones that mix elegant looks with sharp functionality.
Central to Spring / Summer 19 is a very British sense of adventure. Archive prints referencing botanical illustrations from 19th-century explorer journals run through the collection. The madras check shawl historically tied around explorers’ pith helmets is revived in breezy linen and silk, and this season’s outerwear features the more technical construction used in the Autumn / Winter 18 raincoats – updated in relaxed, lighter fabrics and bold, refined tones. Pieces such as the jungle green raincoat and the stone safari jacket – cut from Loro Piana ‘Storm System’ linen – are bonded in water-resistant coating, and designed to layer perfectly over lightweight suits in less tropical, British climates.
Gieves & Hawkes’ approach to menswear design this season: luxurious, contemporary and audaciously exotic.
This season, the Gieves & Hawkes design team has maintained the house’s signature cut while adapting the structure of its tailored offerings to be as light and comfortable as possible. Jackets feature a semi-unstructured, half-canvassed construction and lightweight shoulder pads. The result is a variety of sleek suits and separates with a contemporary British look, which are surprisingly soft and easy to wear.
Super fine textured linen shirts and lightweight knitwear dominate the collection’s casual wear – ideal for lazy summer afternoons in the country. Warm sand, bold khaki, navy and powder blue make frequent appearances throughout the collection, colouring everything from formal wear to casual chinos. Cut in slim fit, classic fit, or a five-pocket style, Spring / Summer 19’s range of garment-dyed chinos offers a sophisticated, versatile summer option for the modern man.
The season’s eveningwear is a collection of beautifully crafted silk and jacquard pieces that pay fitting tribute to Harrison’s botanical inspiration. Standout looks include the navy and copper floral silk jacquard evening jacket, hand-tailored from English-woven silk with shawl lapels and covered buttons. The double-breasted evening suit in midnight blue and the pure silk evening jacket with a tropical cactus and aloe jacquard running across its sleeves and chest is ideal for the more adventurous man. Woven piece by piece, cut and pattern-matched by hand, it perfectly showcases the tailor’s craft.
