An Inside Look at Drake's of London

An Inside Look at Drake’s of London

Mark Cho of The Armoury emailed me some very special photos some time ago after I interviewed him about his new role at Drake’s of London. The photos were of Drake’s operation - both on the manufacturing and retail side - and I was quite pleased to be able to get a behind-the-scenes peek at one of my favorite companies.

I’ve included the photos below. The first set is of their manufacturing site, where they create each season’s new collection of ties. In the back, you can see the rolls of fabric that they’ve specially designed just for their lines, as well as spools of thread they use to sew their ties together. On the workbenches, there are no machines, as all the ties are made by hand.

The second set is of their retail operation. Most of us buy Drake’s through the internet, but those lucky enough to be in London can visit Drake’s store and peruse designs that aren’t readily available online. Finally, the third set is of Michael Drake, Michael Hill, and Mark Cho at the last Pitti Uomo. Drake’s attends both Pitti trade shows in order to meet with buyers. The last photo, in fact, is of them meeting with Yasuto Kamoshita, the creative director behind United Arrows.

I have an interview with Michael Hill, the head designer at Drake’s, tomorrow and it will be published at StyleForum. It should be a great interview and I’ll let you know when it’s up.