Summer jackets 9: a summer suit from Brunello Cucinelli

This, the last of my spring and summer features on spring and summer jackets, is about a very special Italian label, Brunello Cucinelli. Here Shaun Cole wears a linen suit from their current spring/summer range. Beautifully-cut, it's a pleasure to wear and exudes the care, craftsmanship and quality that Cucinelli are so proud of. The most costly of the products featuring in our review, it's a masterpiece of Italian design and manufacture.

Brown linen Brunello Cucinelli suit £2490

Brunello Cucinelli is the successful head of his eponymous business and he combines his drive to forge a successful brand with an underlying interest in human dignity, a form of contemporary capitalism be calls 'humanistic'. These beliefs have driven him to restore a whole Italian village to provide work and living places that provide an ideal place for living and working.

His belief in the promotion of Italian skills and manufacture resonates with those who have similar hopes for British industry. Making very high-quality products that are classic, well-made and comfortable has resulted in a brand that offers much more than just menswear. Men love their clothes to reflect a value, to be supported by a good story, generally involving craftsmanship, care and integrity. Brunello Cucinelli's aim is to offer all these.

Two-piece double-breasted linen suit from Brunello Cucinelli

To find out more about the brand and to buy, visit Brunello Cucinelli, 3 Burlington Gardens, London W1S 3EP, 0207 287 4347. http://www.brunellocucinelli.com/en

To see others in the feature on spring/summer jackets and blazers, click here.

Summer jackets 3: keeping cool with Richard James

I tried very hard to think of ways to sneak away with these three items from Richard James, but I suspect they would have noticed their absence rather quickly. I loved all of them. 

The cool pink check linen suit, below, would need (for me) a little courage to wear, but it fitted like a glove and on holiday somewhere sunny it would be an essential for the cocktail bar.  It was fun to wear, made me smile and I was reluctant to take it off after the shoot. This suit made me realise what a genius Richard James is. Clothes are to enjoy, not be serious about. I guessed its price to be some £1800; it's actually £825.

Richard James pink check linen suit £825
Linen shirt Dundas London
Brogues Loake
Socks Pantherella

This pale blue cotton gingham jacket (below) is light and comfortable. It would be ideal for beach or pool-side party and is casual enough to wear with shorts. I liked this one very much. Sarah Gilfillan's genius styling and sense of colour, pairing the Marwood tie with tan trousers and pale blue Dundas shirt, are clear from this photograph.

Richard James blue gingham jacket £595
Shirt as above
Tie Marwood

This sand lightweight fine wool poplin jacket (below, part of a suit) would be equally at home worn while thrashing out a business deal in a Bahamian boardroom or helming one's classic 1965 Riva across Lake Como; its crisp, tailored shape is perfect. On reflection, this is the one I would keep (the whole suit preferably).

Richard James sand fine wool suit jacket £825 (for two-piece suit)
Shirt Smyth & Gibson
Tie Marwood

Jackets like these are versatile. They may be part of a formal suit, or be worn with lightweight trousers, chinos or genuinely-faded denims. They go with t-shirts, cotton tops and linen or more formal shirts, with or without a tie. Here I wear a light blue linen shirt from Dundas (a brand to watch), a cotton shirt (made in Northern Ireland by Smyth & Gibson) and two ties from a favourite made in England brand, Marwood. Bright summery socks in fine Egyptian cotton from Pantherella. Brogues from Loake.

Suppliers:

Richard James

Dundas Shirts

Marwood

Smyth & Gibson

Pantherella

Loake

With infinite thanks to:

Styling - SartoriaLab

Photography - Nick Maroudias

This feature is not sponsored.

Summer brogues, linen suit, Panama hat - a look for summer

A few weeks ago I was invited to suggest a list of summer brogues for Shortlist, a free London style magazine that's handed out on the streets or available online. I have to confess that I wouldn't wear all the shoes I selected; I felt I should cover as wide a range of tastes and styles as I could. However, my favourites were the white Nubuck shoes from Jigsaw, pictured third down in the scan below.

In the Shortlist piece I suggested matching the shoes with a linen suit, vivid pocket square and Panama hat. It seemed a perfect summer look - smart or smart casual. I hoped to put together the look using Jigsaw products, but, in the end, wasn't able to do this - instead I found a variety of linen suits and matched them with some favourite accessories from Monsieur London, Age of Reason scarves, Arthur & Henry shirts, Shaun Gordon ties and Sanders Shoes (who make the Jigsaw shoes) - links below..

The summer suit look (left hand image, New York Times)

The suit doesn't have to be cream or white, of course. I've selected one made in London by SEH Kelly from Lancashire-milled linen. Below I give links to other suppliers of linen suits of a wide range of colours, styles and prices. When you come to check prices, you'll notice that SEH Kelly's suit is nowhere near the most pricey; so let's forget the myth that British-made menswear is expensive.

Links
Fair Trade straw hat from Ecuador - Monsieur London

Arthur & Henry fine stripe blue shirt ethically made from Fair Trade cotton

Lawrence blue pattern silk tie from Shaun Gordon

SEH Kelly suit - linen from Lancashire, buttons from the English Midlands, tailored in London

Age of Reason & Grey Fox collaboration pocket square

Sanders Made in England Nubuck shoes from Sanders Shoes

A summer suit needs colourful socks -

Socks from London Sock Co

For a choice of linen suits at different prices and colours, try the following (some sell as separates, so search for jackets and trousers. Some sites, like Hackett, are not easy to search, so persevere):

SEH Kelly
H&M

Hackett.

Jigsaw.

John Lewis.

Jaeger.

Toast.
Joseph.

Austin Reed.

Oliver Spencer.
Boss.
Nicole Farhi (available as separates, as far as I can see).