Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2025 - Issue 102 i The Rake

During a fairly animated conversation between me and the Chief Executive Officer of New & Lingwood on a sunny evening in west London — in which mainly we opined about our preferred collar stance and the liberties taken with what people think constitutes navy blue — Mr. Briance asked whether I had read the Sharpe books. It was at this point that our wives, who until then had been valiantly clinging on, gave up on paying attention and left us to our new topic. The truth was that back then I had not, though I knew it was a glaring omission. Growing up, my twin brother was the Sharpe fan, whereas I stuck largely with Flashman, which was the exception to my almost exclusively non-fiction history books reading list. To…

Blunderbusses! It dinnae sound like a profanity of any vigour, but for us Scottish Deerhounds, the word conjures up the wrath of Cailleach and chills us to the bones. Let me explain, laddie, by taking your mind’s eye to the east coast of the Tarbat peninsula in Easter Ross, and a 2.3-metre-tall Pictish cross-slab erected around A.D. 800 — the Hilton of Cadboll Stone. Depicted within its vine-scroll border are two horsemen in pursuit of an antlered beast. We’re no talking aboot the wee roe deer ye get troubling the yuppie-tanks doon in Surrey: we’re talking huge red majestic beasts the size of stallions — these were our prey. At the behest of chieftains, earls and other members of the Highlands’ aristocracy — it’s no for nocht that we’re called…

Comic books and fantasy fiction have a well-trodden narrative mechanic whereby two heroes, initially on their own separate journeys, form an alliance and double down on the awesome. You need only look at the Avengers series to see how potent (and profitable) this can be. Lone wolves can be wonderful. James Bond has done just fine — except the last one, which didn’t end too well for him — but I don't think we can resist a bit of teamwork. When it happens outside of fiction, it is notable and exciting, and it has happened in the tailoring world, in a very big way. My feelings about Terry Haste are well documented in these pages. The man is a genius, and his shop overfloweth with orders, bunches piled high on…

So-called ‘heritage’ brands love to be down with the kids these days. They recruit influencers, chummy-up with music stars, establish ‘collabs’ with on-trend artists, and welcome the arrival of hip, Gen-Z types to replace those dull-but-dependable old-money buyers on whom such brands built their foundations. But it doesn’t always end well. Take Maybach, for example. The Mercedes-Benz-owned luxury marque was relaunched in 1997 after a hiatus of more than 50 years, and it released its first new models of the 21st century six years later — the 57 (for 5.7 metres long) and the 62 (6.2 metres). With an entry-level price of $350,000, miles of legroom and acres of luxurious leather, carpet and walnut, it was sufficiently OTT to become the whip of choice for many a rapper. The earliest…

Sophia Spring is a portrait and documentary photographer living and working in London who has been commissioned across a wide range of editorial and commercial projects. Her clients include Apple, Soho House, Bafta, The New York Times and Vogue, and she has captured a plethora of personalities in culture and politics, including Hillary Clinton, Stanley Tucci, Cate Blanchett and even a Spice Girl. Her personal photography seeks to explore the relationship between individuals and society, and has taken her on trips to Sierra Leone, Cuba and Israel. Her previous project, ‘Parklife’, was published in book form by Hoxton Mini Press in 2021. She is currently creating a body of work that explores the collective human experience. When she’s not shooting she loves to ride her bike around London — ideally…

You can ask him what equipment he has, what gadgets he uses, what club he belongs to, and what his handicap is, but The Rake’s opinion is that a golfer is not truly a golfer until he’s installed a simulator at home for round-the-clock practice. Have kids? Not to worry, you can get up early for nine holes in the loft. British weather dampened your plans? No big deal, it’s always sunny at the virtual Augusta. Having an off-day at the tee? Calm down, no one will be watching in the privacy of your home. The Golfer is inherently aspirational. The game is a constant and unending pursuit of betterment. Alcoholics Anonymous say that recovery is about “progress, not perfection”, but the Golfer would balk at this. Progress is what…

You know you’re iconic when your hairstyle fucks with a war effort. Veronica Lake’s peek-a-boo ’do — where the waves fall mysteriously across one eye — was so embraced by American women working in factories that it became an industrial hazard. The solution? A collab with the War Department on a safer new style called the ‘victory roll’. Every time you see Kim Basinger in L.A. Confidential, or a Hailey Bieber or a Blake Lively cyclopsing from behind a veil of follicles, they owe an aesthetic debt to Veronica Lake, who was chewed up and spat out by the Hollywood machine that barely took the time to swallow. In the era of Insta and most likely OnlyFans, she would have had — in the parlance of tedious TED-talk types —…

When, in 2015, Olivier Polge became the head ‘nose’ at Chanel, taking over from his father — Jacques Polge, the olfactory visionary behind acclaimed scents such as Coco Mademoiselle, Chance and Allure — he was, astoundingly, only the fourth perfumer to take the role since Chanel No. 5 was launched by French couturier Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel in 1921. In the ensuing decade, Polge’s purview has been a considerable one. Overseeing operations at the house’s Laboratory of Fragrance Creation and Development, his tasks include: ensuring the scents that emanate from it epitomise an era without ever succumbing to ephemeral trends; making certain that raw materials, many sourced from partner farms in Grasse, southern France, are imbued not only with supreme quality but are selected with innovation and integrity; exploring new methods…

Last month Andrew Jones launched The London Club — his wonderful book on the architecture and interiors of London’s private members’ spaces — at Brooks’s, the more liberal club founded to offset the more conservative presence in St. James’s of White’s. So much of what is said about these strange and mysterious addresses concerns their memberships and the conversations therein. How do these clubs, whether the gentlemen’s clubs of St James’s, the high-society members’ clubs of Messrs Birley and Birley, or the new-wave clubs of Soho and beyond, allow members to feel like they are at home while, at the same time, retaining a sense of the exclusive? What these London venues give us is a portal through time, in which the club interiors show shifting tastes and expectations. We…

Whisky in warm weather shouldn’t really work. It’s a drink suited for brooding moments by the fire. Or a reward at the end of a day in which you’ve been battered by a storm named after your most vicious aunt. It’s a martyr’s drink, and the enjoyment levels increase tenfold when you have earned it. Be that as it may, on one of the hottest days in the U.K. this year a wee sample arrived in the post labelled ‘Thompson Bros. Single Malt Whisky’. It was a collaboration between Thompson Bros. and a producer called Torabhaig. I’ve visited Torabhaig distillery before. It sits on the Isle of Skye, where I was told by the Master Distiller, Neil Macleod Mathieson, that even the washing used to smell of peat, for the…

Of all those indelible menswear moments in movies — Cary Grant’s grey flannel remaining resolutely unruffled amid the mayhem of North by Northwest; Steve McQueen’s three-piece Prince of Wales check encapsulating the brio of his gentleman-thief in The Thomas Crown Affair — perhaps the most underrated might be the opening scene of the 1942 thriller This Gun for Hire. Alan Ladd’s conflicted hit man, Philip Raven, wakes from a nap in a San Francisco flophouse — a piano tinkles desultorily downstairs — and gets dressed for his latest job; he’s slept in his spearpoint collar shirt and knit-tie, and after loading his pistol (a Colt Pocket Hammerless), he pulls on a subtly pinstriped suit jacket to match his flat-front trousers, followed by a double-breasted, generously lapelled raincoat, and a wide-brimmed…

If you love cocktails, you love bartenders. Great ones are artists, masters of good times and perfect elixirs. But even those who aren’t world-class are rock stars who deserve our praise and generous tips. “Oh, mixing drinks isn’t that hard,” you say dismissively, you arrogant bastard. Have you ever bartended? I don’t mean at your house for a small dinner party. I mean, down-and-dirty drinks-making in a busy bar. I guest-bartended once to promote my Artingstall’s gin. I’m the king of the martini in my home, but the second I was thrown to the wolves who wanted their drinks right away, I became like the amateur chef who gets excoriated by Gordon Ramsay for chopping an onion too slowly. My hands turned into bricks, my brain went haywire, and I…

The latest Code 11.59: Audemars Piguet’s first 38mm perpetual calendar When Code 11.59 was introduced to the market in 2019, it was considered the most significant collection launch by Audemars Piguet since the 1972 unveiling of the Royal Oak. “It demanded new tools, skills and techniques to reach an exceptional degree of technical and aesthetic complexity,” the manufacture’s then Chief Executive Officer, François-Henry Bennahmias, said at the time. “It tells the passionate stories of the dedicated watchmakers who dared to follow their convictions, joined forces and persevered, always pushing their own limits.” They were apposite words for such a significant evolutionary leap forwards for the brand. But as any biologist will tell you, evolution is a journey with no final destination, and the horological marvel before you, which hit the…

The first exhibit visitors are guided towards at Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet in Le Brassus, in Vallée de Joux, is a silver pocket-watch made by Joseph Piguet in 1769, at the end of his apprenticeship. The exhibit does not, strictly speaking, represent the beginning of the Audemars Piguet chronicle — the manufacture would not be founded until more than a century later — but, rather, it is a window into a very powerful origin story. To appreciate it, the visitor needs to close their eyes for a few seconds and imagine a community of fledgling artisans creating high-precision parts — gear trains, balance wheels, escapements — as a winter activity in a primarily agricultural locale during the latter stages of Europe’s mini ice age. “The piece shows us so much…

From high-altitude hideaways to lakeside family havens, each of these four properties offers a distinct interpretation of alpine luxury. Together, they showcase the diversity of the region — whether your priority is wellness, gastronomy, winter sport or family adventure — and provide a perfect base from which to savour the mountains in style. Chasa Montana: Samnaun’s jewel Chasa Montana is the only five-star superior hotel in Samnaun, and since 2014 a proud member of Relais & Châteaux. At 1,850 metres in the Silvretta arena, it’s a dream base for skiing, hiking and cycling. Guests can choose between elegant rooms and suites, dine at three restaurants — including Michelin-starred Gourmet Stübli La Miranda — and explore a cellar of 1,500 wines or a rare whisky lounge. The 1,500sqm Montana SPA offers…

Arriving on television screens at the height of tensions between the United States and the U.S.S.R., NBC’s The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964-68) quickly became one of the network’s most popular shows of the decade. At the centre of the action, circumventing torturous restraints, nuclear threats and noxious gases (to name a few predicaments), emerged a quippy, sartorial spy by the name of Napoleon Solo — Uncle Sam’s answer to the wave of espionage-themed entertainment that producers Norman Felton and Sam Rolfe were keen to capitalise on following the success of the first two James Bond films. By The Rake’s standards, Solo had an edge over his British counterpart because he accessed his headquarters (the eponymous United Network Command for Law and Enforcement, or U.N.C.L.E) via a secret passage in a…