Style / May 2016

Marketing Genius

Jeremy Hackett, the British designer and entrepreneur, on his love of spaniels, his brand’s long association with blue and white stripes, and a surprising royal find on Portobello Road …

Jeremy Hackett should be pleased with himself (though his soft-spoken nature and humility won’t allow it). He has realised the creation of a brand that seldom, if ever, hears a bad word said against it.
Hackett, established in 1979, is now a bona fide gentlemen’s outfitter that extends beyond chic, highly wearable clothing into accessories, including stationery and luggage. It is easy to assume, therefore, that Hackett himself would display the suave, sophisticated and unashamedly British style of his own brand. We were not disappointed, and were thrilled to nd he had an ace up his turnback-cuff sleeve.

A man on the move needs reliability from his accessories. With a Swaine Adeney Brigg umbrella and Globe-Trotter suitcase, you would be hard-pressed to find better-quality alternatives.
A man of habit, every year he buys a monogrammed notebook from Smythson. “I’ve been buying the same one every year for the last 25 years,” he says. “The pen is striped, as back when we rst opened Hackett, the walls were so horrible we had to cover them in strips of blue and white shirt cloth — and it ended up becoming a thing for us that we used in our designs.”
Randolph sunglasses are a scandalously underrated brand. Jeremy wears them because his father had a pair, and demonstrates his subtle stylish nous by including these as part of his ensemble.
Jeremy confirms his sartorial credentials with these turnback cuffs. “It makes a boring suit slightly different,” he says. “It’s the same reason I mix up the button placements. I can always pick it out from a line-up.”
Jeremy’s watch is a beautifully understated Rolex Explorer, the type of vintage watch that suits any out t and is one of the great gentlemen’s accessory watches, looking great on both formal and casual occasions.
On purchasing these Bartley & Sons boots at a stall in Portobello market, Jeremy put his hand inside and found a note that read ‘HM the King’. It turned out that, for a bargain price and by chance, he had bought Edward VIII’s riding boots. Veri cation was provided by the great George Cleverley, who for proof slotted his last cleanly into the boot. “I got it for nothing,” says Jeremy, “so if someone offered to buy it from me, the money would go to charity.”
As the patron of the Sussex Spaniel Association, as well as loving owner of one called Muf n (who recently became a mother), Jeremy’s affection for the breed has found its way into the shop. This tie-bar with the spaniel’s motif shows how a personal touch to designs can go a long way.

Photography by Luke Carby

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Tom Chamberlin

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