This is a modern take on a classic garment. It’s a traditional double-breasted dinner suit, but in a French blue moleskin fabric. It’s a lovely colour: a soft shade of blue with a purple haze. The moleskin texture lends itself to pastel colours, I think; pastels incidentally are also very much in line with the rest of the English Cut SS18 collection! For the styling, I opted for tonal colours, as opposed to contrast ones. That way of combining garments offers depth and texture through the tonal layers. The navy slub silk tie, in that bobbly yet intricate fabric, is a vintage Anderson & Sheppard one I’ve had forever; the deep steely marine blue shirt I pulled out from my own archive. The handkerchief, that sudden flash of red, is new, though, made by Augustus Hare.

The jacket is softly constructed with a draped chest and natural shoulders. Nice and gentle fabrics, like moleskin, really complement this style of jacket. Traditionally, you’d have a DB jacket made in flannel, as it moulds to your body like a second skin, almost like how jeans adapt to your body. But moleskin reacts in a similar way: at first, it can be a bit rigid, but I thought it’d be interesting to apply that adaptability to a timeless and elegant classic. We’re a heritage brand, so we’re not trying to reinvent the wheel, but we do want to have fun with clothes. That’s why moleskin works so well. People see it as an old-fashioned and stuffy fabric, a bit like corduroy, so the challenge was to turn that around and apply it in a new and exciting way, especially on something as formal as a dinner jacket.