Savile Row swagger for all

HONG KONG — Jarvis Cocker just turned 50 and articles on him have sprung from the depths of the Web, many of them on the Pulp frontman’s personal style, which was described by mtvhive.com as “self-sufficient” and “not belonging to a certain era or movement.” Maybe it’s the cool Britannia that resides in him, maybe it’s the fit of his suits, or it could be the not-so-unlikely marriage of both that did it — tailoring has always been a strong suit, so to speak, of the Brits anyway. One Brit, in particular, a bespoke tailor from Wales, has personally been part of Cocker’s journey to style icon-dom. His name is Timothy Everest and his name echoes in the ateliers of the famous and the rock ‘n’ roll. Everest has dressed Cocker, as well as — oh, no biggie — Mick Jagger, David Beckham, Jeremy Irons, Jay-Z and British Prime Minister David Cameron. In his 20s, Everest moved to Savile Row and has never stopped revolutionizing bespoke tailoring for every bloke, dude and bro since. Today, he is one of the trailblazers behind the bespoke casual movement and one of his most recent projects is working with Superdry, a street wear label from the UK that is every stitch as cool.

“Mick Jagger has always, even as a very young man, worn tailoring. But he doesn’t wear it like a banker, he wears it in an irreverent way,” Everest told me at Whisk, a restaurant at the Mira Hotel along Nathan Road. With him was Brian Nebozuk, international head of operations for Superdry. Both decided to go casual for the occasion in relaxed suits and jeans –– neither of them looked like bankers, either. Instead they looked like what the modern man should look like when wearing a suit: comfortable, confident and cool.

Jagger and Cocker represent the inspiration behind one of Everest’s “characters” –– the Country Rebel –– for the Superdry + Timothy Everest Collection, which was being launched that day at Superdry flagship store in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. The look, as Everest describes, is “rock-and-roll-meets-classic-tweed with a Jarvis Cocker cut.” The suit, specifically, is a relaxed single-breasted five-button suit jacket with swelled edge peak lapels, three on-the-turn buttons and a back strap and adjusters that allow the Country Rebel to wear it either in a Jagger-esque rawbone fashion or a relaxed Punchbowl Pub fit.

Everest created four characters all in all for Superdry largely referencing the 1960s. These included the Super Spy, inspired by Sean Connery and the sleek silhouette of spy-on-duty ensembles; the Bank Robber, inspired by classic Michael Caine in a double-breasted suit jacket with peak lapels and slim-leg trousers; and the San Franciscan, inspired by Steve McQueen and Robert Redford in a casual single-button suit jacket made from heavy, unlined wool.

“A lot of it, subconsciously, had to do with TV and movies. It’s difficult to find modern-day icons –– there aren’t very many. A lot of reference points are from the past. It’s about looking at the past and making that relevant. I put these iconic characters together and developed the clothing,” Everest said. It started when he found an image of young Mick Jagger with moppish hair, buttoned-up shirt and a tweed jacket. “People’s perception of the ‘60s is very Austin Powers, but most people actually went to their tailor and had their jackets shortened and such,” he added, “I think the focus on the UK has been tremendous since the Olympics and the Royal Wedding and the baby; I don’t think we’ve had focus like this since the 1960s, so yes, Britishness is very strong.”

The collection is indeed bursting at the seams with Britishness. “We’re a British brand and working with Everest kind of proves our British heritage. This collection is very different in a way that we looked at our customers and thought, ‘We’re 10 years old now, and our customers are growing. What’s the next thing he will need?’” said Nebozuk. “Obviously we can’t sell tweed around the world,” added Everest, “but we’ve kept to James Holder’s (co-founder and brand and design director of Superdry) vision of how Superdry has this rugged, industrial and practical –– which is actually very Savile Row.”

It’s only a suit but we like it

Apart from creating bespoke clothing, Everest also designs costumes for film, currently working on the costumes for the Man of Steel sequel. One of his more recent works was the costumes of Benedict Cumberbatch in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, which were ‘70s-inspired coats and suits with bigger lapels. Oddly enough, the throwback looks actually appeared fresh. “I think it’s because everything’s a bit skinny right now. That’s what’s great about bespoke. It’s timeless when you have something made for you. People say, ‘Oh, that’s a nice suit!’ and not ‘Oh, I see you went to Prada,’” he explained. “It’s the way it’s constructed and fitted.”

And so the question of fit came up. “What do you think of suits getting skinnier and skinnier?” I asked. “Well it has to stop because I just can’t get into them,” Everest joked. “I think that trend is already moving on, but I do think it suits the Asian physique. That’s where premium brands like Tom Ford have difficulty –– because of the shape, it’s difficult to wear. In a funny way, though; I don’t think it’s going to go away, per se, because many people don’t have to wear a suit these days, so if they’re going to pick a suit, they’re going to pick one that’s sharp and cool and they probably will reference that kind of ‘60s character.”

Nebozuk added, “I do think we’re loosening up fashion in general. I think things got really tight and therefore quickly uncomfortable.”

“People are starting to realize that it’s okay to wear things,” said Everest. “I’m working with Tilda Swinton at the moment and we put her in an oversized man’s suit –– but getting the proportions right, so she doesn’t look like she’s wearing an oversized man’s suit, is quite tricky.”

“Femininity impacts on menswear, I think. If you look back at David Bowie in The Man Who Fell to Earth where he’s wearing that fitted double-breasted jacket and the pants and the fedora –– it’s extremely feminine but that’s what makes it really sexy. And it looks very contemporary,” he added.

With women wearing men’s tailoring and men going for slimmer designs, it’s obvious that there’s some kind of fashion revolution brewing. Trends these days, as Everest said, are no longer universal. You can wear a cropped top from the summer with a men’s tweed jacket meant for fall and not look like fashion roadkill. Everest couldn’t have said it any better: “Fashion, in a way, is very old fashioned. So the only way you can be modern is to be yourself. It’s a bit like music. A lot of young bands are getting sued because their music sounds like something from before, and I don’t think it’s plagiarism because every note has been played in every order. The only way music can sound different is if you remix something, change the sound a bit. Fashion is very similar. It’s about changing that mix.”

On the back of Everest’s calling card, the term “ bespoke” is defined as “a garment made to a client’s specification. When ordering, the customer’s choice of cloth was deemed ‘bespoken for.’” In the case of Superdry, the participation of bespoke tailor Timothy Everest in the Sebiro collection elevated the brand’s levels of cool.

“A Savile Row suit is something you wear for many years; it gets better with wear,” said Everest and such suits are the anchors of the Sebiro collection. Whether you’re a Super Spy, a Bank Robber, a San Franciscan, a Country Rebel or, as Cocker might put it, one of the common people, you can throw on a suit, find yourself with a bit of ‘60s rocker swagger, and call yourself bespoken for.

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In the Philippines, Superdry is exclusively distributed by Stores Specialists Inc. and has branches in Bonifacio High Street and the East Wing of Shangri-La Plaza.