100Hands taps Paul Croughton for its latest luxury travel capsule

Paul Croughton is an elite traveller — and also, by no coincidence, the editor of that famed, same-named luxury lifestyle magazine. It’s a bible of jet-setting destination leads and life lessons, and Croughton (who was also once global editor-in-chief of Robb Report) has plenty of worldly wisdom to give.

Perhaps his most impressive globe-trotting trick is his wardrobe; a versatile, neutral-toned toolbox of softly structured suiting, napped textures and bespoke denim. Quality matters to Croughton, and the latest brand to get his seal of sartorial approval is Amsterdam-based shirtmaker 100Hands.

The atelier, founded by former investment banker Akshat Jain in 2014, has something of an international reputation itself. Whether it’s craftsmen in India, customers on Savile Row or champions across Tokyo, the hand-sewn collars, mother of pearl buttons and trim side seams of 100Hands (so named as it takes 50 artisans to stitch together a single shirt) have been universally recognised.

This new limited edition capsule offers up a one-two punch of elegant cord shirts and fine cashmere jackets, worn by Croughton and photographed exclusively for 100Hands by another well-travelled menswear enthusiast, celebrated street style snapper Jonathan Daniel Pryce, also known as Garçon Jon.

“Both jackets are made with exceptional Loro Piana cashmere,” says Croughton of the brown and navy pieces. The brown traveller’s jacket is crafted from 480-gram Mongolian cashmere, and coated with an invisible water-repellent treatment that makes the soft textile resistant to both dust and stains. Lightweight and elegant, Croughton adds that it “works as well with vintage jeans or chinos as it does with flannel trousers.”

The navy jacket, by contrast, is even lighter — cut from a 380-gram fibre with a slight stretch that is both rare and tremendously difficult to achieve with pure cashmere. But its slight extra give guarantees comfort for even the most frequent of fliers, and ensures that the wearer’s movements will be accommodated without threatening the well-proportioned shape or structure of the jacket.

“With its distinctive Nehru stand collar,” says Croughton of the navy option, “it feels as soft and enveloping as a beloved old cardigan. I defy you to find a more comfortable casual jacket that is still smart enough for a dress-down office environment.”

Each jacket, true to the promise of the brand’s name, benefits from the precision tailoring and hand-finishing of at least 50 different artisans — just like the brand’s cornerstone shirting range. And this brings us neatly to the second half of the capsule: two new fine cord shirts.

Joining 100Hands’ existing roster of shirting fabrics (denim, jersey, flannel and linen among the line-up), corduroy is typically a practical fabric, known for its distinctive raised ridges and durable qualities. Here, thanks to a thin-waled construction and elegant cut, the shirts have a silkier, more luxuriant feel — and a considerably more modern aesthetic.

“This soft, fine corduroy is extremely special,” says Croughton of the shirting fabric, of which brown or off-white shades were chosen. “The one piece collar makes the brown shirt a more casual option, while the off-white can be worn as a more sophisticated choice in place of a regular white shirt — though perhaps not with a tie.”

And both shirts and jackets, naturally, work together in any combination. Following the tonal Croughton philosophy, the restrained colours pair whether you’re wearing navy and off-white, or layering both brown options. And woven into each garment is a global, all-purpose versatility, meaning each piece from the capsule will work wonders, wherever in the world you may touch down.

That’s the key to Croughton’s global, go-anywhere sense of style, and what makes this new 100Hands capsule tick — whether you’re walking down a city street or exploring the countryside, travelling first class or whiling away a casual Bank Holiday. These jackets and shirts can hang in any wardrobe — and will make an elite traveller out of all of us.

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