We use the same fabrics for British Boxers as we do for our Jermyn Street productions – here's why it matters
A quiet street tucked behind Piccadilly is the centre of London's finest gentlemen's outfitters. Welcome to Jermyn Street.
Tradition, quality and understated elegance are the watchwords of British tailoring. If Savile Row is where the gentleman in the know goes for his suits, then it is to Jermyn Street that he strolls for his shirts. Up and down this discreetly stylish street are shirtmakers of distinction. Names like Hilditch & Key, Turnbull & Asser, Harvie & Hudson and Hawes & Curtis have been supplying discerning and stylish customers with shirts for decades – if not a century or more.
Restraint and subtlety are all around. As Turnbull & Asser puts it
'A shirt shouldn't shout... it should whisper.' It's perhaps no surprise,
then, that author Ian Fleming shopped here. It's clear that his
creation, James Bond – ruthless, stylish, perfectly equipped for any
sartorial situation – and Jermyn Street are a perfect fit.
Turnbull & Asser, at numbers 71-72, famously dressed
Sean Connery (left) for all of his Bond films.
'The shops on Jermyn Street hold a staggering number of royal warrants.
It's not just Fleming who listed Turnbull & Asser (right) as a favourite
shopping destination. If you needed any more endorsement, the
shop holds a royal warrant from the Prince of Wales. In fact,
between them, the shops on Jermyn Street hold a staggering
number of royal warrants. These are granted by senior members
of the royal family as a sign that they use and enjoy a company's
products, and the company in turn is allowed to show the coat of
arms beside its own branding.
The most glittering names from Hollywood's golden age and high society also beat a path here. Fred Astaire, Cary Grant (pictured left) and the Duke of Windsor are among the style icons who were drawn by the luxurious fabrics, rich colours and exquisite cut of shirts and ties to be found here, in this quiet stretch of St. James's a stone's throw from the Ritz. Even fashion superstar Karl Lagerfeld, ordered every one of his famous high collar bespoke shirts from Hilditch & Key for decades.
'It is one of the keynotes of Jermyn Street that British workmanship is still highly prized
There's one name that gives a clue to another important part of a gentleman's wardrobe. Noel Coward (right), famous for his elegant dressing gowns, was a keen customer of Hawes & Curtis.
It is one of the keynotes of Jermyn Street that British workmanship
is still highly prized. Manufacturers from all over the UK supply the
outfitters of St James's – because, simply, British fabrics
and workmanship are the best in the worl
It was thanks to Jermyn Street's support of UK craftsmanship that
Staffordshire-based sleepwear firm British Boxers has become
the success it is. The company started life supplying pyjamas to
exclusive Jermyn Street outfitters, but it became clear that there
was a wider market for quality British-made tailoring (not least for
women!), and so British Boxers was born. Now the company uses the
same shapes and wonderful fabrics supplied to Jermyn Street,
but for its own collection.
Perhaps the name gives it away but British Boxers is also famous for its boxer shorts – using the very same top-quality fabrics as those supplied to Jermyn Street. And, with a discreet throat-clearing worthy of the finest valet, what gentleman can say he doesn't deserve a hint of Bond in his wardrobe?
