Pocket Guide: Jason Arday
Jason Arday, the British sociologist and writer, is the youngest black professor in Cambridge University’s history. He can also teach us a thing or two about bespoke style. The Rake opened its books...
Jason Arday is genuinely inspirational. You may not recognise him, and nor will you find a self-aggrandising social media page for him. This is not his way. He goes about his business quietly, and it was only a chance meeting between us at Huntsman that made this article a possibility.
For those who are unfamiliar: Jason is a professor of sociology of education at Cambridge University. He is one of the youngest people to have been made a professor at Cambridge, beaten by only three other young achievers, including Stephen Hawking. An achievement all the more impressive because his childhood was not straightforward. Jason is autistic, and his ability to speak was stunted until he was 11 years old; it was not until he was 18 that he could read and write. He now has a PhD and is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He has raised millions of pounds for charity, was a torchbearer at the 2012 Olympics in London, has run 30 marathons in 35 days, and his work on homelessness is unequalled. There is very little in my life I could compare with Jason’s — my exercise regimen, for example, consists of a game or two of backgammon each week — but we connected on a most important topic, bespoke tailoring. He has been fanatical about it since he was a teenager, and now he has realised a wardrobe to be proud of, we asked to take a closer look.
The ring is wooden; it is by a bespoke jewellery maker in Cornwall called Justin Duance. “I am not a big jewellery person, but I do love wooden jewellery,” Jason says. It was given to him by a “very cherished family member”. Jewellery for men remains a contested and tricky frontier, but some men take to it with ease and simplicity, and Jason falls into this category.
This bangle was given to him as a gift by someone in his family, and it has become, along with the ring, an item of great sentimental significance. It is often disguised by the double- button cuffs on his shirt, but he seldom takes it off.
These tassel loafers by Church’s were a gift to himself on completion of his PhD in the sociology of education in 2015. “My dream at that time was to have a Huntsman suit and a pair of Church’s shoes,” he says. Despite having worn them for almost a decade, he keeps them in good condition and well polished. A treasured item.
A shawl-lapel waist coatcut by Dario Carnera, the head cutter at Huntsman, whom Jason considers to be the best cutter in the world (and not without reason — we are big fans of Dario’s at The Rake). The waistcoat is made from a navy chalkstripe Fox Flannel. “I always like waistcoats on other people but never really liked them on myself, but Dario convinced me to try it,” Jason says. It is matched with a spectacular pair of Oxford bags, a style he loves and feels, as an Oxbridge professor, is apt. When he commissions a suit he always orders two pairs of trousers, and one will be a pair of Oxford bags.
