Simon Crompton at the Gathering

 
These are the first pictures from our first Permanent Style dinner, which was co-hosted with Essence Lifestyle on Monday at Club Cafe Royal – part of a series we are creating called The Gathering.

It was a really lovely event, bringing together some of our favourite people from around the UK, with a particular focus on young turks doing great things in the world of crafted menswear. 
 

Davide Taub Gieves and Euan Denholm Edward Green at the Gathering
Davide Taub of Gieves & Hawkes and Euan Denholm of Edward Green

 

Thomas Gaziano at the Gathering
Thomas Brunschwig of Gaziano & Girling

 

Community, or coming together, was the key theme – as it has been at other recent events. It was interesting seeing Alice Walsh of Alice Made This talking shop with James Deakin of Deakin & Francis, for example. Both make cufflinks and other men’s accessories, but in completely different ways with completely different aesthetics. I believe a visit to the historic Deakin & Francis facility was arranged. 

It was nice to hear some of the cutters say how much they liked seeing each other. Davide Taub of Gieves & Hawkes and Michael Browne of Chittleborough & Morgan, for example, get on very well and have a lot in common. But even though they work a few doors apart, they’ve only spoken a handful of times and never at such length. 
 

Sophie Gordon Kilgour at The Gathering
Sophie Gordon of Kilgour

 

It turned out that Sophie Gordon of Kilgour and Claire Barrett of embroiders Hawthorne & Heaney went to school together, but hadn’t seen each other in four years. Even Luke (Carby, photographer) had a connection there. 

It may be a small world, but everyone is either sitting in a basement or flying back and forth to Italy. 

Everyone enjoyed answering your questions by the way – thanks for sending those in. You will see the responses in the official film, which will be ready in a couple of weeks.
 

James Deakin of Deakin and Francis at the Gathering
James Deakin of Deakin and Francis talking to James Priestley and Davide Taub

 

Adam Rogers of RIchard James at the Gathering
Adam Rogers talking to Daniel Wegan of Gaziano & Girling

 

Davide Taub Gieves at the Gathering
Davide Taub does his interview for our film

 

The attendees were:

  • Michael Browne, Chittleborough & Morgan
  • Euan Denholm, Edward Green
  • Elizabeth Radcliffe, Levi’s
  • Alice Walsh, Alice Made This
  • James Deakin, Deakin & Francis
  • Thomas Brunschwig, Gaziano & Girling
  • Claire Barrett, Hawthorne & Heaney
  • Davide Taub, Gieves & Hawkes
  • Sophie Gordon, Kilgour
  • James Priestley, Drake’s, Mackintosh and Joshua Ellis
  • Daniel Wegan, Gaziano & Girling
  • Adam Rogers, freelance illustrator and tailor
  • Oliver Trenchard, Anderson & Sheppard

Plus of course myself, Luke Carby and the guys from Essence Lifestyle, who co-hosted the evening. Credit goes to the them for the photography. 

 

Elizabeth Radcliffe Levi's at the Gathering
Lizzie Radcliffe, Levi’s

 

Ollie Trenchard Anderson & Sheppard
Ollie Trenchard, Anderson & Sheppard (prepped for interview)

 

 

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Chris

Really looking forward to the film. Nice concept. Will this be available to view online?

Marco

Dear Simon
I have seen men wearing black velvet tang jackets and thought it looked quite stylish. I wonder whether you have thoughts on this type of jackets and if so, whether you know where to get high quality versions. Best, Marco

Anonymous

Hi Simon

Completely off topic. Is it standard practice to dart the front of flat front trousers? Any idea why is this done?

Thanks

Jerrell

Hello Simon,

Can you elaborate more on types of cufflinks best suited for night wear? I was under the belief that beautiful cufflinks work all the time!

Regards

Freddy

Simon hi.
Great work.
On your recommendation I have again used P A Crowe they’re pressing I think is wonderful. Do you still use them?

Oliver

What do they charge for the pressing?

Anonymous

Re front darts. Thanks for the response. Have you had personal experience. If so, are you in favour?

nick inkster

I have several pairs of trousers finished with a front dart, and they have never been added to impact the fit; it is simply a way of creating a small degree of texture to an otherwise flat landscape. Some tailors refer to this as a knife pleat.

Mac

Nick, darts on the front of trousers are not used for texture (certainly by tailors). They are there for technical reasons. Pleats on the other hand can be used for design as well as for function.

John

Hi Simon,
A very nice gathering indeed!
I highly value the concept for its potentials and of course for what I could learn from it on suitable outfits for such an occasion as well. Thus the importance of the pics I greatly appreciate too!
John

Anonymous

Hi Mac

What would be the technical reasons?

nick inkster

Hi Mac
Sorry to disagree with you, although perhaps texture is not the right word. They are a decoration, which adds a bit of interest to something which would otherwise just be a plain expanse of cloth.

Mac

Hi Anon, I always prefer not to get into cutting technique with those who are buying suits. You don’t need to know why! However, Simon was absolutely right when he stated that it was about having a small waist in relation to the hips.

It can be done without a dart but it’ll be a pretty close fit and the pockets will gape open. Of course, you can always go for brace-cut trs which have a bigger waist. Trust your tailor’s advice. If the trs fit well, let him deal with the stress of how and why!

John

What kind of waistcoat are you wearing here, Simon?

nick inkster

Mac
I really do not understand your point on darts. It has never been a point about fit with my tailors, only ever a styling preference. “Would you like a dart on these or not?”

nick inkster

Hi Simon
I have trousers with single and double pleats, flat fronts and darts. All are agreed with the tailor at the time of commissioning. None are “retro-fit”. I am quite amazed by the idea that a dart makes up for there being an excess of cloth. Never has a tailor implied that there is too much slack in a cut which can be rectified by a dart. Never.

Mac

Hi Nick,
The front darts on a coat, for example, are not there for texture or design. They give shape to the chest and suppression to the waist. Without them, you’d be wearing a sack.

It’s the same with front darts on trousers. They aren’t necessary if you have snake hips. If you do have a sizable difference between waist/hips, the darts allow your tailor to keep the trs waist small whilst giving you enough ease over the fronts. I have them on my own trousers. They’re virtually unnoticable. If you want a design feature, I think pleats make more of a visual statement. I wouldn’t ask a client if they wanted darts. That’s a tailoring decision. As Simon is saying, maybe your tailor meant pleats?

nick inkster

Gentlemen
Your comments interest me, but I simply cannot agree with what you are saying I’m afraid. Front darts on my trousers are only ever a matter of style choice and never have any bearing on fit at all; I have many with, and many without, and the fit is virtually identical. It is nothing more than the fact that those with a dart look a little different than those without. They do not serve the same purpose as the darts that create a closer fit around the waist and are commonly use around the rear of the waistband. Pleats and darts are not the same at all. And they simply cannot be compared in any way to darts on a coat. At all.

Mac

No doubt your darts are stunning, Nick. Enjoy them to their fullest!

Nick Inkster

Thank you very much indeed Mac. I certainly shall.

John

Thank you for your reply, Simon! It’s a lovely match!

Anonymous

Mac

“Enjoy them to their fullest”. Was there a clue to the darts purpose there? 🙂

Stephen

I hope all who gatherered realise that, outside of the advertising environment (GQ, Esquire etc.), there can be few people in the UK who do more to promote UK/bespoke brands and their worth than this site. A bold statement perhaps but backed by the evidence to hand. I applaud your efforts. This being so is there an all inclusive UK industry organisation (SR aside) that addresses clothing, footware, cloth/fabric and accessories manufacturers at the bespoke/luxury level (there may well be but it really can’t be considered to be public facing)? Whilst we excell at quality I believe we (the UK) are behind the Italians in promoting ourselves. You seem, singlehandedly, to be creating such an entity albeit informally. Can I encourage you to consider this as a long term project (amongst your already busy schedule) I can’t think of a better person and I’m sure there would be plenty of industry support.