Tom Stubbs - Thomas Stubbs

THE SHARPENER
From top: Issey Miyake silk/
wool coat, £1,690, Lanvin woolmix crewneck, £715, Boglioli
flannel shirt, £250, and Acne
Studios tweed trousers, £260;
all from Mr Porter. Kilgour
wool-flannel K jacket, £2,220,
and matching trousers, £430.
Boglioli wool Prince of Walescheck Dover coat, £800, wool
Redfort pinstripe suit, £1,010,
and merino polo shirt, £290
éminence grise
Tonal layering of winter’s rich abundance
of greys has a metropolitan elegance that’s
easy to pull off, says Tom Stubbs
Big-pleated trousers are a
sub-theme of the grey trend
trousers (£200) takes things a notch
smarter, while a flannel three-piece suit
(£1,700) worn with a wool-jacquard
sweater (£350) is über-sophisticated.
For a cross-brand selection of tonal
greys, take a look at Mr Porter’s Issey
Miyake silk/wool overcoat (£1,690) with
a Lanvin cable crewneck (£715), Acne
tweed trousers (£260) and Boglioli
flannel overshirt (£250; all pictured
above). Prince of Wales checks also give
L
ast winter I dabbled in
dressing head-to-toe in
totally varied grey layers.
Never mind “double denim”,
it was “total charcoal” – and I
loved it. Grey knitwear under
grey tailoring teamed with
textured grey outerwear has a refined
feel – and it seems I’m not alone in
thinking this, if the raft of designers
currently championing the multifariousshades-of-grey-look is anything to go by.
As a member of the Glad to be Grey
brigade, I’m thrilled by E Tautz’s collection
of gutsy, glorious all-grey British cloths
(flannels from Bower Roebuck in
Yorkshire, hefty tweeds from Johnstons of
Elgin and Breanish on the Isle of Lewis,
and textured bouclé from Linton to
Carlisle). The tailored silhouette, with
broad shoulders and even broader lapels,
and voluminous pleated trousers evoke
Tamara de Lempicka’s male portraits, but
the grey palette and textures are pure
northern grit “inspired by the photographs
in John Bulmer’s book The North, with its
soot, granite, cobblestones and fog,” says
creative director Patrick Grant, “as well as
the hard-worn clothing of northern men;
78
361_Sharpener_Grey.PRESS_NEW.indd 1-2
(£1,995) is also really
striking and layers well.
Calvin Klein has long
been synonymous with
grey and this winter’s
entirely grey-hued
collection is particularly
strong. Pressed-bouclé
double-breasted overcoats
(£900) and sports jackets
(£835) have a youthful
elegance when worn over
lightweight heather-grey
crewneck sweaters (£485,
pictured top left), as does a
granite pressed-bouclé overcoat (£810)
and two-button sports jacket (£945) worn
with a lightweight charcoal mohair
crewneck (£485). Mélange coats in
cement (£970) and basalt (£980, pictured
top left) complete the shadowy spectrum.
For paler tones, Hardy Amies nails the
look with a brushed-wool coat (£1,200),
wool-flannel single-breasted suit (£650),
bonded technical gilet (£350) and dovegrey merino rollneck (£150). Paler still is
the pearl grey found at Giorgio Armani,
exemplified by a wool jacket (£1,385),
pleated wool trousers (£1,155) and
bouclé alpaca cowl-neck (£360; all
pictured above left). Voluminous, pleated
trousers are a sub-theme of this trend –
Armani’s heather-grey stretch-wool
trousers (£645) offer an alternative.
There’s more volume at Caruso, where
grey pleated trousers (£300) look strong
teamed with a charcoal cashmere tanktop (£500). The grey double-breasted
blazer (£1,050) with a paler shade of
Clockwise from far left:
Ermenegildo Zegna cashmere/
wool blouson, £1,390, and
cotton-tricotine trousers, £320.
E Tautz wool polo coat, £1,295,
wool jacket, £545, and wool
trousers, £395. Calvin Klein wool
coat, £980, matching trousers,
£315, and mohair jumper, £485.
Brunello Cucinelli wool suit,
£2,330. Giorgio Armani wooljersey jacket, £1,385, matching
trousers, £1,155, and bouclé
alpaca jumper, £360
beaten soft and generously draped
and proportioned.” This roomy
brand of suave is key to the Tautz
look. Capacious polo coats (£1,295,
pictured above) in heavily flecked
grey wool and double-breasted
overcoats (£1,295) in sombre grey
windowpane checks look great over
jackets (£545) and trousers (£395;
both pictured above) in grey Donegals.
Brunello Cucinelli’s modern, relaxed
styling is rooted in layering, and this
season the layers are presented in myriad
greys. “It’s dynamic,” says Cucinelli, “the
colour of metropolitan elegance.” I like
the marl-grey wool overcoat (£3,410)
with removable inner jacket, charcoal
cashmere cyclist’s sweater (£1,170) and
garment-dyed denim trousers (£340).
Tonal layering is also an elegant way to
combine tailoring, such as Cucinelli’s
houndstooth Saxony-wool two-piece suit
(£2,330, pictured top centre), with rib
turtleneck two-tone fishermen’s jumpers
(£1,260) and sporty coats (from £2,690).
“The colour palette of most cities is
layered greys, so in a sense the colour
is camouflage for contemporary
man,” says Kilgour creative director
Carlo Brandelli. Of the streamlined
tailoring currently found in grey-marl
flannels and cashmere blends, I like
the charcoal wool-flannel jacket
(£2,220, pictured above far right) with
an angular lapel that juts into a point
and looks sharp with a grey turtleneck
(£650). The mottled alpaca coat
superb texture, such as Boglioli’s doublebreasted Dover overcoat (£800), which
works well with a charcoal wool pinstripe
suit (£1,010) and merino-wool polo
(£290; all pictured below left).
For a more relaxed look, turn to
Matchesfashion.com’s in-house brand
Raey – try a cement-hued chunky wool
cardigan (£395) over a second charcoal
cashmere cardigan (£275), teamed with
low-rise straight jeans (£140). Zegna
offers a similar look; I particularly like
the cashmere/wool blouson (£1,390),
paired with cotton-tricotine trousers
(£320; both pictured far left).
Whether worn formally or casually,
there’s a certain romance to going
grey. You could call it film noir-esque:
restrained and moody but with a certain
sophistication and subtle complexity. ✦
Tom Stubbs
OUT AND ABOUT
l Marc Jacobs fans love the brand’s under-theradar Manrico silk/cashmere/elastane sweats, and
this season’s mottled versions with their luxurious
sheen are especially fine. I’ve got my eye on
the Jacobs sweatshirt (£2,130) and narrowed
jogging pants (£2,580, both pictured right), in
Jacobs’ familiar subdued olive, burgundy, black
or chocolate mélange, as well as new hues:
classic grey, pale pink and mint green.
24-25 Mount St, London W1 (020-7399 1690;
www.marcjacobs.com).
l Luxury British outfitter Pickett
recently moved to splendid new
premises in Burlington Gardens,
which include a “leather library”
offering both ready-made and bespoke
accessories, from “short” wallets
(£575) to bags in vegetable-dyed hides,
including calfskin, ostrich, lizard and
crocodile. I particularly rate the
handsome calf-suede and leather
Piccadilly holdall (£750, pictured right)
and navy grained iPad envelope (from
£135). If you’re lucky, livewire Trevor
Pickett himself might be in situ – in
which case, ready yourself for a
spirited tour/luggage demo/G&T.
10-12 Burlington Gdns, London W1
(020-7493 8939; www.
pickett.co.uk).
EVERY WHICH GREY
Acne Studios, www.acnestudios.com and
see Mr Porter. Boglioli, www.boglioli.com and
see Mr Porter. Brunello Cucinelli, 3 Burlington
Gdns, London W1 (020-7287 4347; www.
brunellocucinelli.com). Calvin Klein, www.
calvinklein.com and see Dover Street
Market. Caruso, www.carusomenswear.
com and see Trunk Clothiers. Dover Street
Market, 17-18 Dover St, London W1 (0207518 0680; www.doverstreetmarket.com).
Ermenegildo Zegna, 37-38 New Bond St, London
W1 (020-7518 2700; www.zegna.com). E Tautz,
71 Duke St, London W1 (020-7629 8809; www.
etautz.com). Giorgio Armani, 37-42 Sloane St,
London SW1 (020-7235 6232; www.armani.com)
and see Harrods. Hardy Amies, 8 Savile Row,
London W1 (020-3696 1408; www.hardyamies.
com) and see Harrods. Harrods, 020-7730 1234;
www.harrods.com. Issey Miyake, www.
isseymiyake.com and see Mr Porter. Kilgour,
5 Savile Row, London W1 (020-3283 8941; www.
kilgour.com). Lanvin, www.lanvin.com and see
Mr Porter. Marc Jacobs, 24-25 Mount St, London
W1 (020-7399 1690; www.marcjacobs.com).
Matchesfashion.com, www.matchesfashion.
com). Mr Porter, www.mrporter.com. Trunk
Clothiers, 8 Chiltern St, London W1 (0207486 2357; www.trunkclothiers.com).
howtospendit.com
l I met the fabulously eccentric
Francesco Maglia over the top
of a beautiful pea-green striped
umbrella while in Florence this
summer. His family have been
making umbrellas for five
generations (he is the fifth
Francesco Maglia). Particularly
glorious new models include one
for the city (£195, pictured left)
in gold and green with a
malacca handle, and
a country version (£191)
with a chestnut handle.
The brand is available
from Italian retailers and
the Finaest website, which
can deliver globally.
www.finaest.com. www.
ombrellimaglia.it.
79
18/11/2015 10:37