Dunhill: suave modern dressing for grown ups

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Jun 24, 2018

A suave expression of tailoring in noble materials and smooth proportions and all the better for it from Dunhill, a brand that is rapidly finding its focus after several somewhat opaque years.

Working with couture quality fabrics like silk faille and silk moiré, Dunhill’s Creative Director Mark Weston developed a smooth statement of modern dressing. He cut forgivingly throughout. Six-button, double-breasted jackets with broad lapels, worn over elongated trousers, flared at the ankle and finished with small studs. While his long-lapel wrap-around casual jackets were truly admirable. The sort of look that would flatter most any guy.
 
His other key fabric was leather; lambskin or rawhide cut into high-collar long blousons done with wide sleeves.

“I wanted tailoring references to the 70s. Strong, column shapes, done in very high quality fabrics. Not totally done up. Formal yet easy,” explained Weston.
 
His color palette was somber: deep purples; fresh khakis and Pacific blues. Which, after a season of acid and neon pastels, felt very grown up.
 
Moreover, the show marked a significant victory for the Paris menswear runway season, seeing a storied UK house stay on the French calendar, while also creating a pop-up showroom in the shadow of the Arc de Triomphe.
 
Weston also worked in some great, hand-painted marbleized prints – seen in some striking raincoats – and taken from precious stone lighters from the house’s huge archive. “I liked the way the prints had a rave spirit.  Almost club cultural,” added Weston, standing in the corner of Lycée Jacques-Decour, a top Paris high school whose alumni include Maurice Utrillo, one of the few famous Montmartre painters actually born in the neighborhood.
 
Set in the school’s historic cloisters, Dunhill installed gravel pathways and a runway in burnished steel, which added style to the whole event.
 
“Eight tons of gravel, so we made it a gift to the school,” explained CEO Andrew Maag. A nice example, in the Brexit era, of a fine old tradition – Entente Cordiale.