Drake’s, like most British menswear brands, greatly appreciates its heritage. While the brand is decades younger than other menswear brands, it still has enough rich history behind the label. They perfectly released a capsule collection of accessories in celebration of its milestone 40th anniversary.
This year, the house has already released a range of suits and outwear that is set to helpcomplete a man’s wardrobe. The capsule collection is a return to the brand’s roots: it has an array of ties, pocket squares and scarves (all starting around $85), and all have modern takes on ancient prints such as paisley, floral medallions and birds all in the brand’s original heavy silk twill and fine wool.
Robb Report sat down with creative director Michael Hill to discuss the capsule collection and the future of the brand. Here are the vital takeaways.
Robb Report: What is your favorite part of the Anniversary Collection?
Michael Hill: The ties. I absolutely love them, and they really resonate with me because they were the first thing that I saw the brand doing when I discovered Drake’s years ago. We worked really hard to get that cloth with the same kind of luster that the vintage ties have, and were able to go back into our archives to find the heavy silk twill that the ties were made of. I love their little neat patterns—the simple design makes them very easy to wear and they work very well with tweed and oxfords.
RR: How do you think the company has evolved over the past four decades?
Hill: Our roots are very much in manufacturing and working with other brands, and we still do a lot of that. We are committed to being a maker, no question. When I joined the brand seven years ago we started rethinking things, we really wanted to meet our customer on our own terms, and go beyond accessories and tailoring. We’ve been very careful to stick to the same handwriting and philosophy that we learned under [founder] Michael Drake, but it is important to stay fresh. We’ve really tried to balance tradition and innovation.
RR: Where do you see Drake’s going over the next 40 years?
Hill: We don’t really have a grand plan—our growth has been very instinctive so far. That said, I don’t think there is much in terms of product that we can add, now that we’ve launched the ready-to-wear collection. I do think there is more room for us to experiment with shoes and outerwear though, and our spring collection is going to be a really great example of that. But we want to do things that are absolutely right for us—it needs to be meaningful and special for the brand.
