One of the great joys of Britain's famously 'fierce mild' weather has to be all of the spring/summer gear English brands release around this time of year that remain surprisingly salient for an Australian audience. Front-of-mind in this arena is Drake's: Michael Hill's irreverent, perennially elegant London sportswear brand - and a frequent collaborator of Aimé Leon Dore.
For Spring 2023, the label has just revealed another of its signature unisex campaigns: modelled eruditely by designer Louie Isaaman-Jones and textile artist Alena Dower.
Across a range of some 30+ styles, the duo - hats off to Drake's, incidentally, for tapping interesting everyday creatives as models - show off a variety of garments which can be worn by men and their better halves. In Australia? For around three quarters of the year, we might add.
Consisting of numerous legitimately new releases, plus a handful of year-round staples from Drake's aptly named 'Perennials' range; Spring 2023 is populated by Japanese denim, textural tailoring, quilted vests, Rugby-esque knit jerseys; 'fun' socks you'll actually enjoy wearing; and an interesting new boat shoe that is being made in conjunction with Italian footwear specialists Sebago.
In a nutshell? Drake's Spring 2023 collection is par for the course for the brand: good news indeed if what you're interested in is beautiful and functional apparel, made with an eye to increasing your comfort on the daily.
A relatively conventional effort next to the thematic designing that Drake's does when working with third-party collaborators (e.g. St. John's) much of the styling that has gone into this latest Spring lookbook will hold practical merit for men who aren't averse to a bit of fussiness when they're getting dressed in the morning.
In practice, that means a lot of shirting that has been intentionally folded over outerwear, or handkerchiefs giddily redeployed as neckwear. My personal favourite? Swapping out the predictable sportcoat for some splash-proof outerwear: because 'dressed like Moss from The IT Crowd' is, unironically, a rather entertaining aesthetic to embrace when you're back in the office.
