By Ethan Hall
For dunhill's AW25 collection, Simon Holloway sent his models through a doorway overlooked by a grand chandelier in a historic gentleman’s club in Milan, Società del Giardino, founded in 1783, and backdropped by a live performance of “Pulsing” and “Ornament & Crime” by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The models then entered a grand hall where guests such as Alex Hassel, The Boys actor; Akala, British activist; Johannes Huebl, German model, were seated at dinner tables.
Holloway maintains the dunhill house DNA and the presence of the archive in his collections. The collection is said to continue “the core themes of English classicism, casual elegance and consistently appropriate wardrobing."
The show opened with beige and khaki silhouettes of English drape suits, a style made iconic by the Duke of Windsor. The noble camel hair topcoats were the attraction of the opening, which varied in shades from gold to ginger, with their clean-cut silhouette and satisfying symmetry. Thick knit sweaters complemented many of these opening looks, which were adorned across shoulders or nestled under blazers and topcoats.
The juxtaposition between the formality of the blazer and topcoats with knitted sweaters and patterned shirts acknowledges the modern importance of “informal formality.” However, Holloway plays with the formality of the beginning of the collection with eclectic looks of conflicting colors and textures, such as the bright citrine cords and the blue shirt. More clashes are seen, such as the Donegal tweeds with the velvets, which were layered with sweaters and cashmere shirts to demonstrate how rich and layered winter town clothes can be for the dunhill clientele.
As the show draws to a close, the looks progress to evening wear - cocktail and black tie. The cocktail looks were a purposefully mismatched clash of silk accessories with the smoking jackets. The jackets were constructed from velvet, ancient madder silk, or wool twill and had paisleys, medallions, and neats printed on. This channels the whimsical dunhill interpretation of the British cocktail style. The cocktail looks were shortly followed by the somber and darker black tie and lounge suits, consisting of tartans and suits that came in opulent midnight blue, green, and black.
This season masterfully examined both the English Drape suit, introduced by English tailor Fredrick Scholte in the '30s, and the interplay of clashing textures and colors, creating an eccentric yet recognizably formal and informal dunhill style.
