Let’s face it, there are many reasons not to visit London these days: the crime, the intimidatory protests, the woeful public transport, the eye-popping cost of everything, Sadiq Khan – I could go on. So disillusioned have I become with what was once my favourite place in the world that I fear I may be tiring of it, and thus, perhaps, life. Such thoughts make those assisted dying adverts the mayor has just plastered all over the Tube all the more poignant.
We are not talking about fashion here, which I haven’t paid any serious attention to since the zip craze of the early 1990s
But there is at least one area where London still excels, and can claim plausibly to be the world’s premier destination, at least for half of the British population: high-quality menswear. London remains a sartorialist’s dream, with more must-visit (the website won’t do) shops serving the discerning gentleman than almost any city in the world. It’s miles ahead of Paris, leaves Milan trailing in its wake, and has only Tokyo, perhaps (my home for most of the year), as a serious rival.
To clarify, we are not talking about fashion here, which I haven’t paid any serious attention to since the zip craze of the early 1990s. Nor are we particularly interested in the Bond Street superbrands whose overpriced bling is pretty much universal. No, the area in which London stands out is style: well-made, distinctive, built-to-last clothing that says something rather complimentary about the wearer but does so in a whisper, or an aside, rather than screaming it in your face.
There are too many examples to list here, so let’s boil it down to a tale of two streets, both home to a gang of truly superb menswear shops: Clifford Street and Chiltern Street. Both are adjacent to more famous thoroughfares – Savile Row in the former case and Marylebone High Street in the latter – which just proves that the most interesting talent is often to be found off, rather than on, Broadway.
Clifford Street has three outstanding British brands: one old and storied, another old but reborn, and one new-ish but well on its way to prominence. Quite apart from what these emporia sell, any one could be a candidate for the most beautiful menswear shop in the world based on their striking interiors and exteriors.
Anderson & Sheppard haberdashery is the veteran and probably takes the crown. It’s a plush, vivid, almost sensual space with a traditional aesthetic yet nonetheless fresh and relaxed vibe. It feels like the ultimate gentleman’s walk-in closet. You’ll want to buy everything. Simply fabulous.
Carry on a few steps down the road to Adret, whose proprietor, Adam, will probably not thank me for mentioning his stunningly beautiful shop, as he foreswears advertising and has only a minimalist website. Adret is inspired by Indonesian handicrafts and sells a range of meticulously designed, largely handmade pieces in precious, otherwise unobtainable, fabrics. Dreamy and seductive.
And across the road is Connolly, the recently revived supplier of highly-finished leather who furnished the Houses of Commons and Lords, making ours, if it is nothing else, the best-upholstered parliament in the world. Now, Connolly offers a mix of the whimsical, the bold and the traditional and seems to look to the past and the future at the same time and yet somehow remains thematically consistent. There are items that simply cannot be found anywhere else, such as cervelt knitwear (a New Zealand deer whose fibre is softer even than vicuña). Always worth a visit.
Across town in Marylebone is Chiltern Street, where every single shop in the street is worth visiting. Highlights include Trunk, Brycelands (run by former ‘best-dressed man in the world’ Ethan Newton), Crawford Leather (leather and suede coats and jackets with models named after movie stars – I’m saving up for the Fiennes), Monocle, and New & Lingwood (Noel Coward-style dressing gowns and smoking jackets, amongst much else). Somehow, these admittedly niche outlets have thrived despite the multiple challenges of fast fashion, online shopping, lockdowns, the (crazy) tourist tax, ever-escalating business rates, and now face the fresh hell of Rachel Reeves and her war on anything remotely successful in the private sector.
How have they survived? What’s special about London? Simon Crompton, whose Permanent Style blog has become the premier menswear site in the world, attributes London’s resilience to its rich menswear heritage, supported as it is by local manufacturing (Harris Tweed, Scottish cashmere, Northampton shoes, etc). ‘Nowhere apart from Italy has that,’ he says.
I’d argue that perhaps equally important are the individual proprietors and designers, who still see London as the centre of the universe; and bring with them a level of service that flows naturally from people who love, and often had a hand in the creation of, their product. Anderson & Sheppard haberdashery is a good example. It’s one of the few outfitters in the world where the staff don’t follow you around as if you were a potential shoplifter. They offer you proper tea to sup in changing rooms almost as large as my first apartment in Tokyo. The shop’s guiding spirit is Audie Charles, who once stopped me from buying a double-breasted wool jacket when she pointed out that it wasn’t hanging well at the back, thus depriving the shop of a substantial sale. If that isn’t service, I don’t know what is.
And though he is too modest to admit it, Simon Crompton himself deserves huge credit. His website, which has resolutely backed London, provides vital information for the style-conscious man. His city guides (London’s is the longest) serve the same purpose as those well-thumbed Lonely Planet books did for an entirely different tribe a generation ago.
But just as John Updike observed that style-conscious women love New York because its gleaming, soaring skyline forms such a stunning backdrop to a well-put-together outfit, perhaps there is just something about London, or at least parts of London – the streets, the buildings, the atmosphere, the sense of history even – that inspires certain men to aspire to dress well, to prove themselves worthy and meet the challenges of what might just still be, despite all its problems, the world’s greatest city. It’s a pleasing notion.
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