Category: Umbrellas and gloves

  Over the winter, quite a few readers have asked what I wear for very cold weather.  If it’s formal, the answer is a simple variation on the coats we’ve already featured: a heavyweight overcoat like my 30oz fr...

When I visited the Francesco Maglia workshop in Milan last year, I ordered a bespoke umbrella.  Why? Purely to deepen the experience of the visit. There's no other excuse really. I’m not such an unusual height that I...

Francesco Maglia makes some of the finest umbrellas in the world. Indeed, it might make most of the fine umbrellas, given how many it makes for other brands as well as for itself.  Yet (as is often the way with luxury ...

You know when you think you’re not part of a trend, and then see everyone wearing the same thing? As a clothing snob that likes to think he’s different to everyone else, it’s very annoying. I had admired Michael H...

Samuel Gassmann Last week I was in Paris for two days, catching up with old friends and artisans, and seeing a few new ones. One of the most interesting things was an interview with Lyne Cohen Solal, the new head of the...

Next year I will publish a travel guide to the best men's stores around the world, with Thames & Hudson. Alongside the city chapters there will be interviews with well-travelled people in the menswear industry, high...

**Please note, this was a one-off collaboration and is no longer available** French storied manufacturer Lavabre Cadet makes the finest gloves I’ve ever worn - but they don’t have many outlets, particularly not in t...

At the beginning of December, there will be an event in Brussels bringing together some of the craftsmen that featured in the Permanent Style trunk show last month - Lavabre Cadet and Michel Heurtault - as well as seve...

Thank you. Thank you so much on my behalf, and more importantly on behalf of the four artisans - who trusted me, and by extension you, to come over to London and do something they'd never done before, in a location the...

I am very proud to say that we have a Permanent Style trunk show organised for October 5th, co-hosted with Gaziano & Girling at their Savile Row store.  This has been a good while in the making, particularly as I w...

   It is rare these days that I cover someone for the first time who is genuinely a step above their peers. Yet such is the case with Lavabre Cadet.  I had known of the French glove maker for several years, but neve...

   “The opening of the umbrella should sound like a car door,” said Michel Heurtault, looking me meaningfully in the eye. I didn’t get the connection immediately, but he slowly pushed the umbrella open, and as it...

  For those that follow my column for How to Spend It magazine (part of the Financial Times), there have been two articles in the past month – on Barbour and on Begg.  We’ve stuck with this format for almos...

Wearing strong colours well requires a lot of practice. The key is learning how to balance bright colours with darker, but equally strong tones. A purple handkerchief will stand out against a mid-grey flannel suit, but i...

One of the pleasures of revisiting Naples was catching up with friends, such as Mario and Mario Jr at Talarico. My ego has never swelled to the point where I assume such men will remember me, but this does have the nice ...

The text read: “You’ll know this Simon, where do I get a great umbrella in London?” It was from my cousin Harry, but I’m embarrassed to say I didn’t know what to answer. Being absent-minded at the best of times...