Four years later, after a considered shift away from velvet slippers, Duke &
Dexter now prides itself on its design and production of loafers, shoes that Archie himself has always worn and thus
feels passionately about. They’re characterised by a distinctly classic shape, with the tongue of the shoe higher up
the foot than it would be on a standard slipper. Keeping the loafer shape consistentallowsfor playfulness and experimentation when it comes to materials
and colourways.“What I realised was that the loafer was such a versatile shoe
in the sense that there were so many different materials that could be used, from velvet to nubuck suede,
needlepoint, tweed, canvas, linen… I think we’ve used about 40 different materials now on the upper,” Archie says. “The beauty of our shoes is that
there are so many different ways in creating and running the print through them that actually anything can
work.”
While Duke & Dexter’s materials are sourced globally, the shoes are designed in
London and handcrafted in a family-run workshop in Sheffield. Each product is debossed with a ‘Handmade in England’
stamp and the support of British craftsmanship is key to the brand’s ethos, but Archie is adamant that such respect
for heritage and tradition doesn’t negate theinfluenceof innovation. “I do genuinely think the two can go
hand in hand,” he says. “We’re driven by the British side of things and the way we go around sourcing and trialing
our materials, combined with how the design team works on new innovation and style.”
Throughout my conversation with Archie, there’s one word thatrepeatedly crops up. That word is fearlessness, and
it quickly becomes apparent that it’s a significant driver underpinning every element of the brand. I get the
feeling that, based on this fearlessness, the Duke & Dexter approach is somewhat unconventional. Archie confirms
this for me. “One of the interesting things when it comes to the design side of the business is that none of our
designers actually have any genuine design experience in fashion,” he says. “We work with a lot of footwear, fashion
and print designers and they do things that we can’t do in-house, but they come with their limitations because of
how they’ve been taught along the way. What our designers allow us to do by not having any of that is they have a
very distinct way of doing things and thinking things through, and that can come with totally random and almost
futile ideas on new potential creations, but at the same time that makes a limitless approach to things so that
every now and then something actually quite brilliant that hasn’t been done before can be done”.
This brazenness no doubt lends itself to the brand’s bold geometric and camo prints
that they are so well known for, but elegance and classicality are not compromised. Archie and his team aspire for
“clever minimalism” and aim to push the boundaries whilst maintaining an element of timelessness. This is why they
choose to focus on such a limited range of styles – namely loafers but, more recently, Chelsea boots as well. “We’re
never going to release a product just because of the hype around it,” says Archie. “For example, we’re never going
to go into the sneaker market just because it’s a popular market. We do want to go into more and more types of
footwear, but it does take time with a brand that tries to get things as accurate and as meaningful as we
do”.
Duke & Dexter now sells to customers in 120 countries and counting. A
particularly distinguished clientele that includes the likes of Eddie Redmayne and Ryan Reynolds has no doubt helped
the brand cement its status as a leader in the industry, and it seems that things are only set to soar from here.
Archie has grand plans to open a New York store in the near future, so it’s only a matter of time before world
domination ensues — not bad for the guy who didn’t mean to start a brand.
