In February the world’s most esteemed and cutting-edge design houses converged on the nation’s capital for London Fashion Week 2023, with many designers showcasing garments made from Hainsworth cloth. One standout collection was from menswear designer Luke Derrick who made his Fashion Week debut with pieces made from Hainsworth melton fabric, designed to represent the fusion of traditional clothing design with the demands of a contemporary lifestyle.
Luke Derrick is a former Central Saint Martins graduate who trained at Alexander McQueen, Dunhill, Brioni and on Savile Row before going on to launch his own clothing label, DERRICK. As befits his background, Luke’s designs are inspired by traditional tailoring but reimagined from a modern perspective. Created in collaboration with Hainsworth, his AW23 collection is a reappraisal of men’s formal wear in response to a post-pandemic world.
The lockdowns of 2020- 2021 forced many people to become accustomed to staying home, with the option to go to the office or social occasions made unavailable to them. This has had a considerable impact on fashion, with consumers eschewing high-effort glamour in favour of comfort. This is evident in the popularity of loungewear and the rise of the ‘new office wardrobe’ that prioritises looser fits.
This shift in attitudes was the driving force behind the DERRICK collection – clothes that take the wearer from the sofa to the office to the club, a style that Luke describes as “the art of getting away with it”. These clothes reimagine the traditional to create formalwear for today, resulting in outfits that are cohesive yet dishevelled, while still giving the wearer an air of elegance.
Key garments include a ‘cardigan jacket’ with a single breast fastening, and a piazza coat that takes inspiration from black robes worn by Italian clergymen. All garments in the collection are designed with bold silhouettes and slouchy fits and are made from durable materials, creating adaptable pieces that can be worn in a multitude of environments.
The jacket and piazza coat are made from Hainsworth Pioneer fabric in Darkness, a classic heavy weight melton designed for overcoating. The cloth was designed by Hainsworth to recall the coats traditionally worn by explorers and sailors in the 18th century, and is extremely long-wearing and warm while retaining an excellent drape. These qualities also make Pioneer the ideal fabric for DERRICK’s ‘dispatch housecoat’, which takes the pattern of a 1940’s British Army coat and audaciously re-renders it in the style of a dressing gown.
Though Hainsworth is a mill with a long history rooted in traditional fabric manufacturing we always actively seek to collaborate with and support rising fashion designers, and our working relationship with Luke is one that we are incredibly proud of. His exceptional AW23 collection takes the old and makes something new from it, an approach that reflects Hainsworth’s own marriage of traditional craftsmanship with a view to the future. Hainsworth offers our most sincere congratulations to Luke and his remarkable Fashion Week debut.
