Taking heed from the long line of archetypal male luminaries that have been associated with Dunhill since the brand’s inception, new creative director on the block John Ray focused in on the man behind the gentry’ ensemble. Revealing that a man is, by all accounts, his own maker and his clothing is merely an accessory to that, Ray called upon a large dash of the bohemian debonair and a trace of eccentricity to create a revised Dunhill trademark.
Mixing busy textures and forgoing starchy structure, in what is generally a first for the bespoke brand, and going as far as basing a fair few looks around silken pyjamas for maximum radical oomph. This all contributed to a lax plutocrat air that shouldn’t disappoint any Dunhill fans. Alongside that even, the seductive aura of this season’s new Dunhill specialities was almost impossible to not detect, exuding an almost cinematic stylisation that avoided becoming camp.
This was a triumph for both Ray and the brand that has welcomed him. From mink coats to trousers hitched up authoritatively high, every element still speaks of the tobacconist whose esteemed family carved a niche in the Dunhill Motorities market and later pioneered the Rollagas lighter religiously used by James Bond; Alfred Dunhill the original.
by Liam Feltham
Images courtesy of Style.com