Best Of British

- Stylishly Supporting UK Plc

The latest menswear trend is trying to source all your clothes from Britain without the Savile Row expense. Believe it or not, you can still have an entire British wardrobe without remortgaging your house.

If you thought British manufacturing was dead and we lived in a land of call centres and service industries, you’d be wrong, there are still small pockets of people producing great product.

In the current economic climate people want to know what they are paying for. Long gone are the days when you could stick a second-rate designer’s diffusion line on the label, just above ‘Made in China’ and expect people to pay over the odds for it.

‘Made in Britain’ has become more important than ever and companies are realising the unique marketing magic that this puts on their brand and product.

‘Made in Britain’ is about selling history, craftsmanship and integrity. Buying British helps the economy and supports companies that could have sold out to the Far East years ago. As the cost of imports rise because of the weakness of the pound, ‘Made in Britain’ is becoming better value. This isn’t purely Great Britain as a charity case, this is finally recognising what has been under our noses all this time. From top to toe, we hope you enjoy the Best of British.

Jeans - Albam

Nearly three years old, Albam is a relative newcomer on the menswear scene. Its philosophy of trying to manufacture as much of its product in Britain as possible has made it a standout. It started in a small office in Nottingham with just seven styles and now has a shop on Beak Street in Soho and acres of menswear press to its name.

Albam’s clothes are stylishly simple. They are youthful classics at great prices, the kind of clothes that a picture doesn’t do justice to, you need to see them.

They don’t manufacture in Great Britain just for the sake it though, if the quality isn’t there at the right price then some things are made in Portugal, USA and Italy.

We like the novelty of wearing a pair of its English jeans. Albam’s are in a special 13 oz dry selvedge Japanese Denim. The denim is pre-shrunk and only gets better with wear. Internally bound in shirting fabrics, usually cute, blue gingham in the pockets. Made in England, of course.

Denim jeans - £75

www.albamclothing.com

Shoes - Grenson

Grenson, founded by William Green in 1866, originally started out as William Green & Son. In 1895 the company moved to its present Queen Street site in Rushden, Northamptonshire, to accommodate the growing business.

The Grenson name wasn’t used until 1913 as a result of a compression of the Green & Son name and became one of the first brand names to be registered in the UK.
Goodyear welted production was and still is at the heart of Grenson's business.
Christian Purslow, the son of the family owner of Grenson, approached designer Tim Little to revitalise the brand in 2006. Tim launched the 'Rushden' range named after the home town of the original Grenson factory built in 1877.
The Rushden range introduced the brand to a whole new generation of men, maintaining the integrity of a classic Goodyear welted shoe whilst stripping away the stiffer elements of traditional English shoes. The range also boasts a more accessible price point.
Now in its fourth season the 'Rushden’ range has reignited men’s interest in traditional English styles.
Grenson makes shoes exclusively for various designers and retailers, recent collaborations include British label Albam and Rag & Bone and Odin in America. For this spring is has produced pastel-shaded brogues for Kurt Geiger.
English shoes have become increasingly fashionable over the last few seasons as traditional styles of men’s shoes have come back in. Grenson’s have a lightness to them. The 'Rushden' range of shoes are also extremely good value for money.

‘Stanley’ Brogue - £160
www.grenson.co.uk

T-Shirt - Sunspel

Sunspel, England’s finest manufacturer of men’s undergarments, originally started in 1860 as Thomas A Hill Ltd. exporting T-shirts and other Cotton garments to Japan and China. In 1932 the name changed to Sea Island Textiles Ltd. and in 1937 a further name change settled on Sunspel - after its leading brand at the time.

In 1947, Sunspel introduced the boxer short to the UK from the US - Nick Kamen was seen wearing a white pair of these when he whipped of his jeans in the famous 1985 Levi's laundrette advert.

Still produced in its Long Eaton factory in Derbyshire, Sunspel makes the best understated underwear any man can have. It also manufactures for the Richard James and Margaret Howell labels and has co-brand collaborations with designer Kris Van Assche and retailers Harrods and Bergdorf Goodman.

The ultimate classic is probably its white round-neck T-shirt in 100% two-fold single Jersey Egyptian cotton. The cotton is so soft you almost forget you’re wearing anything.

T-shirt - £23 - www.sunspel.com

Bag - Bill Amberg

Bill Amberg's eponymous label was launched in 1984 driven by his vision to create beautiful leather goods. Bill has spent his life working with leather, beginning with apprenticeships under leather craftsmen in Australia in the 1970s. Back in London, he went on to design bags for the likes of Paul Smith, Donna Karan and Romeo Gigli. The new Selvedge Stripe bags are made in England by West Country craftsmen using 15oz canvas and English bridle leather. They are created by folding the material across an un-cut width then using the selvage as the finished edge of the bag. The leather is treated in one of the last pit tanneries in the UK. It is a much slower manual process that creates a much stronger leather. The bags are finished by oiling in a drum to create a hardy resilient finish. Perfect for the beach.

Selvedge Tug tote - £105

www.billamberg.com