the second drop of our biggest season yet
As we began the design process for AW24, we knew we wanted to work more with heritage - to create contemporary twists on historic shapes and categories. Creating our own monogram was top of the list, something we could use as a new sign-off across new materials and elevate designs.
With mood boards for this collection spanning the late 1980s to mid-1990s corporate fashion and banking, we wanted to design different facets of the collection that could fit into this master view. The idea for the monogram came twofold - firstly, we looked at how bankers embroidered their initials onto their shirts. Secondly, we looked to Americana sports clubs of the time - how lifestyles converged at the weekend from cities to these clubs of debauchery.
While monograms have, of course, been around since ancient Greece, our interpretation had to feel contemporary enough to sit alongside this collection
The hero pieces from next week's drop are the monogram knitted crewnecks that we’re launching in black and sand. These knits are made from the same mohair wool blend fabric that we launched with the first of our autumn/winter drop earlier this month, taking the same boxy fit block that we also introduced.
The monograms are done using an intarsia knitting technique, which you’d typically see in argyle sweaters - those diamond-shaped sweaters that were popular in the 1980s. This is our way of taking a knitting technique and giving it a contemporary turn.
The crewnecks are great for layering up smart or casual.
The monogram tees are the first tees to launch from our new supplier. As we’ve grown and our unit sales have quadrupled almost overnight, it’s been important for us to derisk our supply chain. That derisking also focuses on the quality and consistency of our t-shirts. We’ve found the Rolls Royce of factories for autumn/winter that we hope can be a long-term partner. That's not be without it's delays, but we're finally ready to begin rolling out these tees.
The monogram tees are on our more regular oversized t-shirt block - for those used to sizing up in your tees, our oversized tee features a more traditional fit with a longer body and dropped shoulders.
Speaking of these improved tees, we’re also launching one of our signature watercolour tees here, the Brookville tee, inspired by a certain movie set in and amongst Wall Street in the late 1980s and early 1990s. We drew inspiration from that era for this collection, so it only felt right to do a little nod to one of our favourite movies.
These are super limited edition and will never be restocked.
Monograms became popular during the early 19th century as decorative and status symbols, often embroidered on linens, handkerchiefs, clothing, and other household items. During the 20th century, they became more popular for branding identities, as you can see with Louis Vuitton and Gucci.
We’ve looked to the monogram as a sign off on signature pieces - we already launched our track pants with the monogram earlier this season, embroidered in a really elevated way next to the left-hand pocket. With this drop, we’ve far expanded it.
You’ll find the monogram as an inner embroidery on our storm jacket and trench jacket, our panel track jacket, and our button-down shirts in blue and off-white.
Most people have also noticed that we’re expanding significantly into headwear this year, and of course, the monogram is a heavy feature of those new hats - emphasis on new here as these are from a new supplier with new shapes and new materials.
These sadly will not be ready until the new year, but it's good to see the response to these has been so positive.
Our button down monogram shirts are one of the big stories for AW24. These 100% cotton shirts have been influenced heavily by 90s tailoring and arrive in a blue and off-white colourway. They feature our signature cropped boxy fit.
Again, we've found it really hard to find oxford shirts with a decent fit - they're always too long. So these were a major design consideration for us.
We've also got some very limited edition special vintage silk ties we've 3D embroidered with our monogram. These ties are sourced for their 90s patterns, ties you would often see around the great cities we took inspriation from.
These are strictly limited in quantities and will never be restocked.
autumn:winter 2024 drop two launches 31.10.24.