One of the things I love about Drake’s is how they’re able to present classic clothes in a way that feels a bit fresher, a bit newer, without veering off into the bushes. This season, the company shot their spring/ summer lookbook in Charleston, South Carolina, where they’ve mixed their English ties and Italian tailoring with some of their favorite pieces from the heydays of American style. And at a time when prep feels beleaguered – sometimes dated, sometimes lacking in self awareness – Drake’s presentation makes me think, “oh yea, this stuff is pretty good.”
In an old post at Put This On, my friend Pete once wrote a great essay on what’s happened to prep. In the mid-2000s, “J. Crew sales were booming – critter shorts and tiny collared OCBDs abounded. Grosgrain enthusiast Thom Browne won a CFDA award and got his own line at Brooks Brothers. Ralph Lauren launched an over-the-top youthful prep brand allegedly named after Ralph’s dog, Rugby. Old prep labels such as Gant were resurrected, and Barneys stocked new, prep-riffing labels like Band of Outsiders and Benjamin Bixby. The author of the Official Preppy Handbook was writing a sequel.”
Now in 2018, Rugby and Bixby have shuttered, Thom Browne is no longer at Brooks Brothers, and J. Crew and Ralph Lauren are struggling to find their footing. Even the term preppy feels pejorative again. It’s sticky and gross, referencing a sense of smugness, as well as the squeamishly elitist things we blissfully ignored ten years ago. Pete writes: “Prep implies privilege and inherited money; some of prep’s charm comes from the unquestioning self-confidence bestowed only by independent wealth. Today we still like our wealth obnoxious. But not smug or entitled.” To the degree prep feels relevant, it’s often through generic things that have simply become “clothes.” Flat front used to be preppy, but now they’re just common attire for everyday office workers.
Drake’s lookbook isn’t defined by prep, but it’s preppy enough. And at a time when preppy companies are afraid to show their roots, Drake’s does it in a way that’s unabashed and, frankly, good. There are suits and sport coats made from a Japanese madras jersey and blue/ white puckered seersucker. Later this season, they’ll also introduce some solid-colored and striped rugbys, as well as classic American penny loafers. Coupled with their usual assortment of oxford-button-downs, flat front chinos, and striped ties, things suddenly feel fun again in that uniquely American way.
There are also some things you’d regularly expect from Drake’s. Their softly tailored suits and sport coats this season are offered in a range of densely woven linens sourced from the Italian mill Solbiati. You can find those in earthy olives, chocolate browns, and deep navy. Additionally, they have a khaki colored suit made from a ramie-cotton blend. “It’s difficult to dye ramie because colors don’t penetrate the fibers very well, but its natural color is a sort of sandy beige,” says Michael Hill, the company’s Creative Director. “And it’s beautiful in that color. It has the drape of linen, but the body of cotton.”
Then there’s the outerwear, the highlight of any collection. For this season, Drake’s has a couple of sueded Valstar bomber jackets made from tan and an exclusive shade of dark brown (only available at Drake’s). There are also a couple of macs from the Japanese brand Coherence, some in-house made overshirts, and lightweight sueded down vests to come (“the puffer vests can be worn over a bit of knitwear or even a jacket,” says Michael). Best of all is the navy linen version of their D-43 military field jacket, to be introduced later this season. “We’ve incorporated the casualwear with the tailoring into this lookbook to show how things can be worn in a softer, more casual context,” says Michael. “We often wear tailoring with a shirt and tie, but we don’t always. The idea here was to show you can mix it up a bit.”
Some of my favorite items are in the accessories and footwear sections. The oversized, multi-colored, madras-inspired scarves made from cashmere, as well as the vulcanized Moonstar sneakers and new in-house line of Drake’s leather shoes. “The shoes are made in Northamptonshire on an old Japanese military last,” says Michael. “The first is a roughout suede, the second will be a pebble-grained leather cap toe. They’re a bit narrower than our Alden shoes, but they still have a very nice, rounded toe shape.” On the site now, those chukkas are about $450 for customers outside of the EU – not too far from Allen Edmonds, often hailed as the entry-point for better-made footwear.
For readers who haven’t seen, Drake’s also recently introduced their Easyday collection, which is priced a bit more affordably than their mainline offering. The difference between the two is partly about design and construction, the Easyday being aimed at a younger clientele. The ties are narrower at 7cm and feature the company’s classic tipping, rather than the mainline’s 8cm ties with handrolled edges. The suits and sport coats are also made from more casual materials, and are even more softly tailored. The shoulders are slightly padded, but there’s no structure in the chest.
As for what else is coming down the pipeline? I was able to get Michael to give a preview of their FW18 collection. “We’re going deeper into tailoring. The Easyday line will feature slightly more casual fabrics, such as garment washed and garment dyed cottons, as well as ribbed mid-wale corduroy. Then we’re expanding our outerwear, almost doubling the category. At the moment, we’re working on our version of a stable jacket. It’s a design inspired by great British sports and something you can wear on weekends. We’ll have more in our new in-house line of shoes, as well as rounding out our knitwear category with polos. We’re really excited about everything.”
Finally, one other thing I like about the lookbook: the models are wearing semi-translucent, bright colored Swatches from Michael Hill’s own wardrobe, something he named as his own stylistic essential. “When we do these things, I bring a massive bag with all my shoes. And this time, I threw in my watches as well,” he laughs. For readers who are looking to incorporate something a bit fun into their spring/ summer wardrobe without breaking the bank, Swatches are a great way to go. Get them in bright blue, radiant orange, fiery red, sunny yellow, and apple green. Bright colors have a sense of pomposity that’s inherently a bit preppy.
