Online Editor’s Letter: Largesse & Liberality

This month, TheRake.com is dedicated to largesse and liberality, two subjects that are rather close to The Rake’s heart. Invariably, the finer things in life involve a degree of opulence and generosity that one seldom finds elsewhere - the many hours of painstaking work lavished upon a beautiful pair of shoes, or the years of careful, temperature-controlled ageing process that yields the finest vintage cigars for example. True luxury it seems doesn’t do things quickly, or by halves. To this end, we’ll be telling the stories behind some of those rakish brands that have intriguing links to the concept of largesse. Whether the selfless philanthropic leanings of Levi’s or Ralph Lauren, the generosity of design and fullness of cut that characterises a contemporary British drape suit, or the excessive tendencies of some of the greatest magnates, moguls and bon vivants to have graced this mortal coil, this month we celebrate maximalism. Ed Cripps will be bringing us the stories behind some lesser known, yet nonetheless infamously excessive Riviera playboys, and our Editor-at-Large Nick Scott is set to explore the most rakish acts of profligacy too. Our own Charlie Thomas will be lifting the lid on the remarkable precision and power of the Aston Martin DB11 and Benedict Browne will be exploring the intriguing world of The Real McCoy's, one of The Rake’s favourite cult Japanese brands, who's designs draw upon the richness of American workwear, military and sportswear sub-cultures. All of which, one hopes, is intriguing. What is also exciting however, is the way that our online atelier has been developing in recent months – The Rake team takes a great deal of pleasure in collaborating with those brands and artisans that approach their work with genuine passion – and a myriad of new projects are approaching fruition. Quite apart from our recently released collaborations with Chester Barrie, namely designer Christopher Modoo’s take on the ultimate double-breasted blue dinner suit and navy shawl-collar ‘blazedo’, and our sumptuous Sartorial Survival Mega Squares with Turnbull & Asser x Mo Coppoletta, a number of other projects are about to drop on shop.TheRake.com.

“True luxury it seems doesn’t do things quickly, or by halves.”

Particularly dramatic are our new outerwear additions for autumn/winter ’16, which include an exclusive execution of the phenomenally imposing Grenfell dispatch rider trenchcoat and the first ever ready-to-wear greatcoats cut by Neapolitan tailoring powerhouse Rubinacci, which will be available very soon in chocolate, forest green or navy Casentino. We also have the ultimate urban-tweed sports coat from Huntsman that is realised in an exclusive model which pays homage to the iconic ‘Huntsman cut’ at its most generous, gorgeous new gowns from Jermyn Street’s New & Lingwood made-up in exclusive silk jacquards and the quintessential raw and washed spread-collar denim shirts from Drake’s. Keep your eyes peeled for these new releases and please do keep perusing shop.TheRake.com, as more and more collaborations will be released in the coming weeks. That’s about all there is to it for this month, we hope that readers will enjoy the synergy between our online features and those pieces that are soon to be released on the shop. If one thing unifies The Rake online in November, it is the belief that the best things in life and those things that are most fun to wear, experience or partake of, come from a place that is anything but miserly. Long may this be so.