The Rake

Over the next few weeks there will be another period of collective tension in the U.K. The supposed final furlong before Brexit day on October 31 (or ‘B-day’, if ablution-related humour appeals to your sensibility on this issue) will ensure all sides

As I write this, hunkered down in the Yorkshire Dales in full rain gear, crouched behind a wall on a grouse moor considering the prospects for autumnal sport, most of the chatter is about the devastating effect of a little mite called the heather bee

In the summer of 1945, the crème de la crème of Indian politics gathered in the small city of Simla, in the hills of northern India. For almost 100 years, Simla had been the summer capital of British India, where annually the entire machine of govern

Buckingham Palace has seen some pretty strange sights in its time — Queen’s Brian May perched on its roof in 2012 while cranking out a hair-metal version of the national anthem springs to mind — but surely none can top the incident in the early years

Outcast. Reject. Persona non grata. Undesirable. Untouchable. Leper. Go through any thesaurus’s list of synonyms for the word ‘pariah’ and the nouns become progressively more toxic, which is something of a blow, emotionally, to us Canaan dogs, given

Nice guys are meant to finish last, but it doesn’t seem to be impeding Tom Mison, who is about as charming as they come. On screen, and in photographs, his cheekbones and high forehead give him a kind of aristocratic hauteur, so it is disappointing t

Few stars of the day were more synonymous with their endowments than Jane Russell. So much so, in fact, that Howard Hughes was said to have designed a ‘cantilever bra’ just for her; the ‘Jane Russell peaks’ in Alaska are named for you know who; and B

A round peg does, to invert an old English idiom, go into a square hole, and it does so with exquisite grace in this delectable piece from the military watchmaking pioneers Bell & Ross. Combining the two basic shapes that have dominated the brand’s n

In more than 15 years of reporting on the luxury fashion industry, I have not heard a more vociferous call to arms than the one being made now about sustainability. It wasn’t that long ago that ‘sustainability’ was a word that excitable investors wan

It was the chairman and chief executive of a global tech behemoth — a man famous for redesigning and marketing thousands of antiquated products — who worked the same magic on millennia of Zen philosophy by telling his legions of followers: “Do not tr

Of the various men I’ve met since I founded The Rake 11 years ago, the two I’ve found most inspiring are Ralph Lauren and Brunello Cucinelli. Lauren, because he is my spiritual father: he and his eponymous brand formed my tastes at an early age. What

Two heroes of mine are Christopher Geidt and Jonathan Sumption. Scratching your head? Well, Baron Geidt has three knighthoods and was the Queen’s Private Secretary for 15 years; he enjoyed a career at the Foreign Office and in the British army before

There is a crisis on Savile Row. How do we know? Well, a big neon sign emblazoned with that very word is currently stopping traffic as it is gingerly manoeuvred across the august thoroughfare. It heralds the return of the world’s most stylishly stock

Take a look at the Bentley EXP 100 GT — the seductively shaped all-electric concept that celebrates the brand’s centenary year while exploring how grand touring might be experienced in 2035 — and you might, imagining its creation, surmise the automot

Thanks to Audi U.K. for the vintage model Anthony Byrne: Is clothing important to you? Sam Claflin: I think it’s more important to me than I admit it is. I have quite a varied wardrobe; I have a whole room dedicated to it, which I don’t normally go i

The military Submariner, or MilSub to its friends, has a quiet and menacing presence on the wrist that few other watches can match. The vintage MilSub isn’t the biggest watch on the block, but it is the baddest, with each one having its own history i

“I like to work in a stress-free environment where it’s fun, collaborative and creative. He brings a beautiful energy to set and is a very generous artist who makes filming an absolute joy. He’s also not bad at acting. I love him.” There was no holdi

The phrase ‘family-run global firm’, after decades in which it has crept into oxymoronic territory, is now peeping over the abyss into obsolescence. In the highest echelons of watchmaking and jewellery, there are perhaps only a handful of these enter

It might sound bizarre for a style magazine to say this, but there are few things in the world today less appealing than high fashion. The designer world has had a rough ride of late — when ‘sustainability’ is the buzzword that affluent consumers are