Dunhill creative director Simon Holloway is determined to provide an alternative to European design

Since taking the helm as Dunhill’s creative director in April 2023, Simon Holloway has presented only three collections, but he has already defined a casual elegance rooted in decades of craftsmanship and savoir faire. Rather than chasing trends or seasonal “newness”, Holloway embraces “timelessness and classicism”, delving into the gentlemanly essence of Dunhill.

“It’s the pinnacle of an English expression,” he says, “through everything from the cloth to the cut and proportion. The incredible, rich story of Dunhill is a beautiful one to retell season after season.”

Founded in the 1890s when Alfred Dunhill inherited his father’s leatherworks, the house quickly pivoted to serve a new kind of customer. Anticipating the impact of Benz’s 1886 Motorwagen, Dunhill began making car coats, luggage, dashboard clocks and even tobacco and lighters for the emerging class of wealthy motorists.

Simon Holloway is keeping a strong understanding of English design at the core of his designs. Photo: Dunhill

Today, while the brand is synonymous with refined British tailoring, “Dunhill was not born on Savile Row”, Holloway notes. “It was born in the idea of motoring and then went through this evolution. It always kept with the times and had relevance to the man of whichever era it was.”

When he arrived, Dunhill had lost its footing – out of sync with modern menswear, its traditions seen as dated. Undeterred, Holloway doubled down on what makes it unique: connoisseur-level tailoring and a singular Britishness. “Dunhill is for the Anglophile. European brands have a uniquely Mediterranean taste and look, which is wonderful, but it leaves the space open for Dunhill to express its Britishness.”

That space is both elegant and rakish. “English taste can appeal to two completely different types of people,” he says. “The suits King Charles wears are very similar to those worn by Bryan Ferry and the late, great Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones. It’s the same man, whether you’re rock or royalty. One is diplomatic-level coded clothes, the other has the nonchalance of a rock star. That’s just so cool and where does that exist in the world? Only in England.”

Dunhill has a sure-footed presence in the UAE, with a new boutique in Dubai Mall. Photo: Dunhill

Dunhill’s deep ties to heritage manufacturing underpin this studied ease. “We work with the last Jacquard silk-weaver in England, the last table-screen-printing mill in England, the heritage camel-hair specialist in England and many others.”

To suit modern life, Holloway has in some cases halved fabric weights, creating lighter, softer materials. “That can be everything from flannel to a gun club check that would traditionally be tweed, but now is made in a really refined, superfine merino.”

Having produced its suits in Italy for more than 40 years, Dunhill also benefits from Italian expertise, rendering jackets, overshirts and coats lighter still. The autumn/winter collection looked to the 1930s English Drape – a distinctive jacket cut devised by the Duke of Windsor and his tailor Frederick Scholte. Holloway modernised it by removing the shoulder pads and holding the silhouette through the canvas wrapped over the shoulders.

Pieces from Holloway's third collection as creative lead. Photo: Dunhill

Despite such innovation, the house remains committed to “the vernacular of British cloth, texture, colour and pattern”, now reimagined in lighter constructions.