The average gentleman will probably not care very much for, nor look too kindly upon, graffiti. But we’d like to think The Rake’s readers have broad, if not eclectic tastes.
Here at The Rake, we have more than just a fleeting interest in street art. The word ‘graffiti’ is, after all, derived from the Italian graffiato, or ‘scratched’ (alluding to the ancient never-gets-old pastime of carving one’s initials into the neighborhood pillar/bicycle stand), which is itself ultimately derived from the Greek graphein, ‘to write’ – something we understandably have an affinity for.
And while the Italian graffiti scene is not half as developed as, say, London’s – on a recent jaunt to Milan, the author was disappointed to find not edgy, politically-charged cartoons, but stingy scribblings of indecipherable noms de guerre – the French have certainly been working on theirs in the past couple of decades. Paris’s occupation by mosaic space invaders and Blek le Rat’s stencils come to mind, but the recent collaboration between Hermès and street artist Kongo, takes the concept of one’s ‘canvas’ to a whole new level.
In order to translate Kongo’s explosive street art onto its signature silk carrè scarves for the A/W 2011 collection in six stunning colour variations, —›Read More
Lorenzo Villoresi’s studio does not promise much from the outside. A small suite on the top floor of a building on the south side of the Arno, it is in an old but certainly not glamorous part of Florence. The dusty buzzer is one of six set into the pockmarked brickwork. The street is dark and silent, the sound of the bell echoing inside.
But after four floors in a very small elevator, and one flight of stone stairs, you enter a very different world. One whose charm is an obvious reflection of Villoresi, the man, his taste and his passions. This is a personal and private space, devoid of pretension.
Room one is the laboratory. A large wooden desk sits under the eaves, a skylight shining down on its surface. It picks out brown scent bottles, an extract of poetry and a glass beaker with stirring rod. Corkscrew stands hold paper scent cards to sample new concoctions. The dominating influence in the room, however, is the 1500 bottles that line three tiers of shelves around three sides of the desk. They often sit three or four deep.
Mixing and sampling two of these bottles, to demonstrate the process, Lorenzo explains the importance —›Read More
Following our sneak peek at the Berluti capsule collection, we have the first pictures here from the presentation in Paris. As you can see, lots of sombre colours but beautiful textures - exactly what we wanted and hoped for from Alessandro Sartori.
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Here at The Rake we are proud of the opulent, some might say extravagant, production standards of our magazine. Its style and quality is always one of the first things that draws comment. Indeed, more than one competing publication has paid us the compliment of engaging in the sincerest form of flattery.
However, we understand that readers are busy people, sometimes pressed for time and baggage weight allowance. Several back issues of The Rake can weigh as much as a pair of shoes after all. With shoe trees. We are also aware that a subscription to The Rake —›Read More
Budd is one of those very rare things: a London shirt maker that still cuts its product on the premises.
Several shoe makers retain this connection to their workshop roots – Cleverley, Lobb and Foster’s being clear examples. And obviously scores of tailors across London still cut within sight of the customer – even if much of the making is done elsewhere, as with the cordwainers. But shirt makers have long been scarce. Even the number with bespoke operations is in single digits.
It was perhaps not surprising therefore that there was much wringing of hands when Savile Row tailor Huntsman took —›Read More
Capeland and Hampton lines take inspiration from vintage models
SIMON CROMPTON
Tuesday 24th of January 2012
Watch companies are always keen to draw on archive pieces and rare finds when they can. The inspiration is ready made and, if you're lucky, so is the audience.
The transformation can be hard to work successfully, however. Many pieces lose their elegance in becoming what are inevitably larger models, and the simple subtle details can easily be lost.
On balance, we think these new models in the Capeland and Hampton lines from Baume & Mercier succeed. While our favourite is certainly the Hampton inspiration piece at top - a piece from the 1940s with a definite Art Deco sense to its lines and styling - the new Capeland below also retains many of the subtleties of its single-push chronograph, 1948 inspiration. The chevé-shaped sapphire crystal, for example, reminiscent of early nineteenth-century galet pocket watches.
www.baume-et-mercier.com
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Tomorrow Berluti, the shoe brand founded over 100 years ago, will launch its first range of men’s clothing in Paris.
This has greater significance than just the small capsule collection of leather jackets, jeans and knitwear sitting in four stores and waiting to be presented to the industry. This is about LVMH betting on an idiosyncratic shoemaker with a loyal following to lead the company’s menswear. And it comes as rival group PPR completes its buyout of Brioni.
But enough about the industry. What are the clothes actually like? The Rake went down to the London store to have a look – —›Read More
As mentioned in the previous two pieces here, the brands at Pitti Uomo can seem rather homogenous. One consistent exception is Drake’s. The English company has a unique style that has been passed seamlessly from founder Michael Drake to current head Michael Hill, and it shines out from their distinctive navy booth across the floor of the Fortezza da Basso building.
The colour is hot. For an Autumn/Winter collection, there are some pretty vibrant colours here. Perhaps the idea is to try and cheer us all up. Whatever the intention, it comes across in strips of bright pinks, yellows and greens; —›Read More
Day 2 at Pitti and you’re beginning to get your eye in. Wake, shower, dress. Walk across a freezing city in stunning sunshine. Duck away from the photographers and squeeze through a crowd of preening, chatting humanity. Ignore the cheap ‘classics’, skip past the sportswear, refuse to accept any proffered leaflet, and zoom your attention in on...
Isaia's soft yet sharp tailoring
Isaia. The Neapolitan house of colour with serious sartorial nouse. Hand finishing more than hand construction, but still beautiful buttonholes, buttons and stitching details. The 8 mm stitch is apparently the new thing - big, looping stitches up —›Read More
The Florentine trade show exhibits hundreds of manufacturers, many of them foreign but mostly Italian. Their aesthetic is consistent: grey cashmere jackets and padded coats; details in biscuit or chocolate suede. It is a huge volume of very nice clothing. But separating the wheat from the chaff, the Italian from the Chinese-made, is not easy. One solution is continuous recommendation. Ask one brand you know which others are made well and then follow the chain. And so The Rake wanders.
Persol displays its craftmanship bona fides in a new short film that’s a sight for four eyes.
CHRISTIAN BARKER
Wednesday 2nd of November 2011
THE RAKE team’s eyes are generally shaded from the harsh Singaporean sun by lunettes from either Ray-Ban or Persol, brands that satisfy our yen for the legitimate, heritage-rich, elegantly classic, and beautifully built. Testament to its fulfillment of that final criteria, the latter Italian eyewear manufacturer recently released a jazzy short film exposing – in the manner so beloved of this magazine – the handcraftsmanship behind Persol’s wares. Check it out here:
THE RAKE visits Beijing for Ermenegildo Zegna’s China 20th anniversary extravaganza.
CHRISTIAN BARKER
Wednesday 28th of September 2011
THE RAKE’s fashion editor Esther Quek and I recently had the pleasure of attending Ermenegildo Zegna’s celebrations in Beijing marking 20 years of the company doing business in China. As those of you with a basic grasp of math will realise, Zegna first set up shop (literally) in the Middle Kingdom in 1991, back when most luxury brands thought purely of China as something you put out at tea time – certainly not as the future of their business… which is very likely how most European luxury labels would describe China today. Having established a Chinese foothold early in the game, and built a reputation as one of the most recognised, respected luxury brands in the land, Zegna now has more than 70 stores in China, and a staff of 1000-plus, the country accounting for approximately half of Zegna’s sales. It was no surprise, then, to find the Italian cloth and tailoring titan putting on quite the impressive, pull-out-all-stops event to celebrate 20 years in China, with an extensive exhibition charting Zegna’s century-long history, a tech-enhanced fashion show, and a celeb-studded after-party that stretched on into the wee small hours. Check out Zegna’s video of the event (which fortunately doesn’t feature any footage of yours truly busting Disco Dad moves on the dancefloor to the strains of Zegna resident DJ, Coleman).
THE RAKE gets ripped at a fitting with Mariano Rubinacci in London. Photography: Andy Barnham
CHRISTIAN BARKER
Tuesday 27th of September 2011
Following on from our previous report on the Rubinacci bespoke experience (see here for part one) we recently visited Mariano Rubinacci at his Mount Street, London, atelier for the first fitting of our vintage linen three-piece (more images after the jump). After the master thoroughly appraised the baste-stage suit, he literally tore it apart at the seams, deconstructing the shoulders, collar and neck before pinning them back together in better conformity to my shape. Sleeve length was also adjusted, the coat’s skirt nipped a touch, and the trousers slimmed down in the thigh. With the confidence of a consummate, vastly experienced craftsman, Mariano stated that after the requisite adjustments were made, no further fittings would be required, and he’d be able to ship the suit to me in Singapore. I currently eagerly await its arrival – and can’t wait to give the sharp summery ensemble its first outing in suitably old-school, colonial Singaporean surrounds. The Writers Bar at Raffles, perhaps? (One will, of course, have to stick to martinis and G&Ts – somehow I don’t think that creamy linen would react well to splashes of claret —›Read More
With London Fashion Week S/S 12 currently taking place, we re-view choice looks from LFW A/W 11 – sharp stuff you can so shop right now.
MARK TAY
Wednesday 21st of September 2011
As our intrepid photographer-at-large, Andy Barnham, valiantly navigates London Fashion Week S/S 12 to bring us beautiful photos reflecting English trends in threads for the coming seasons, we at The Rake thought it’d be appropriate to take a look back at his snaps from A/W 11 – clothing that the discerning gentleman can actually find in stores at this time, perfect for the currently —›Read More
