LFW AW24: Simon Holloway presents debut Dunhill collection

With no men’s fashion week in London, British menswear brand Dunhill opted to showcase the debut collection from new creative director Simon Holloway during the predominantly womenswear London Fashion Week.

Set against the backdrop of the Duveen Wing of London’s National Portrait Gallery, models weaved between small bar tables decorated in red or green tablecloths with matching lampshades and napkins, while guests enjoyed cocktails and cucumber sandwiches.

For the designer’s debut autumn/winter 2024 collection, he presented 41 looks described as being the “sophisticated portrayal of Dunhill’s 130-year heritage,” as Holloway took inspiration from the heritage brand’s archives, tailoring expertise and dressing cultural figures, such as Truman Capote and Frank Sinatra.

“This collection celebrates our origins and subsequent evolution into a unique British luxury house,” said Holloway in the show notes. “Dunhill designs for men that enjoy the finer things in life – from motoring, sporting, and cultural events through to classic black-tie moments. It is what we have always done best. I hope we have re-captured that spirit, one that is at once refined and international.”

Dunhill presents “new codes of British style” with a rich, masculine and elegant collection

There was a focus on expertise in the craftsmanship of English tailoring, showcasing an elevated wardrobe for the modern gentlemen, which is rich, masculine, and “unashamedly elegant,” with ready-to-wear, made-to-measure, and bespoke tailoring on display.

At the heart of the collection was the concept of playing with the conventions “of classic English dressing,” with refined suiting options with two- and three-pieces, as well as topcoats and formal wear seen in fabrics exclusively developed in the heritage mills of Yorkshire, Sussex, Somerset, and Biella, alongside evening suits in velvet and three-piece tuxedos.

Other highlights included elegant, informal blazers styled casually with pleated flannel Gurkha trousers, gabardine chinos, and wool-and-cotton denim five-pocket trousers. While tailored jackets, cut to a new Bourdon silhouette, named after the Dunhill Bourdon House flagship, were showcased worn with separate trousers.

There was also statement outerwear inspired by the car coat, a house signature, and luxurious casual pieces, such as reversible driving jackets and knit twinsets were seen in warm tones of toffee, chocolate brown and cream.