Dunhill went big on tradition for its Autumn/Winter 2024 collection
Simon Holloway presented his debut collection during London Fashion Week
Dunhill had reason to celebrate this weekend. Not only did it outfit actor Brian Cox and All of Us Strangers director Andrew Haigh for the BAFTAs, but the British brand also made a triumphant return to the runway.
Held during London Fashion Week, which fell at the same time as the British Film's big night (meaning all eyes were on the capital), Dunhill's show was staged at the monumental National Portrait Gallery. Press, buyers and friends of the brand (James Norton, CKTRL, Ed McVey and Harry Lawtey) flocked to the Trafalgar Square location, for what was to be Dunhill's first IRL show since 2020.
The brand has been in a state of flux since then. In 2023 the Richemont-owned British luxury tailoring brand appointed Simon Holloway as creative director, a Purdey, Ralph Lauren, Jimmy Choo, Narciso Rodriguez and Calvin Klein alum. Holloway replaced Mark Weston, also a former Burberry designer, who exited the British brand in October 2022 after five years as creative director. It was also a time of change at the top of the business, with Laurent Malecaze becoming Dunhill CEO in January 2022, replacing Andrew Maag, also a former Burberry executive, as part of a big strategy to grow Dunhill and bring it to the top of its game. Weston and Maag brought new life to Dunhill, but were arguably chasing a contemporary audience that had little interest in Dunhill, introducing oversized silhouettes (cardigans, big-shouldered blazers - the sort you'd see at contemporary brands such as Martine Rose and under Demna at Balenciaga) and sportswear to the seasonal collections. Why head to Dunhill, when you could go elsewhere?
But the brand has taken a step back. With Holloway there has been an opportunity to reflect and hunker down on what works for the label. Holloways debut collection features 41 looks and is a nod to Dunhill’s 130-year heritage. It isn't chasing an audience anymore, and instead is recognising what people chase Dunhill for. “This collection celebrates our origins and subsequent evolution into a unique British luxury house,” Holloway said via the brand's show notes.
Holloway's collection, which was presented salon style (low-lit individual tables and cucumber and caviar sandwiches) in the National Portrait Gallery's Duveen Wing inaugurated by King George V and Queen Mary in 1933, was refined and harked back to the values of British tailoring, for which the brand is - and wants to be - most known for. Bespoke tailoring and Bespoke leather goods which are offered at the London atelier - a rarity for a British luxury house, away from Savile Row - informed the Autumn/Winter 2024 collection.
Elegant, sharply-cut tuxedos were paired with polished Derbies and garbadine coats. Louche velvet blazers, presented in a autumnal oak leaf hazel, were matched up with checkerboard trousers and waist-cinching cummerbunds. Bow ties and indeed cummerbunds were a return to classicism. The entire collection opened with a three-piece grey suit and a necktie. Informal blazers, worn with pleated flannel Gurkha trousers, gabardine chinos, or in some cases thick denim 5-pocket slacks, kept the tailoring theme alive even when traditional formality wasn't the order of the collection. Big leather trench coats, worn tight at the waist and with leather gloves and floaty trousers.
The collection also nodded to Dunhill's late 1800s origins, when the brand sold, first and foremost, motoring accessories. A suede field jacket worn by model Kit Butler was most notable, while the aforementioned leather gloves would have been destined for the hands of Steve McQueen in Le Mans 24 Hours.
“Dunhill designs for men that enjoy the finer things in life – from motoring, sporting and cultural events through to classic black tie moments," Holloway said. "It is what we have always done best. I hope we have re-captured that spirit, one that is at once refined and international."
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