Connoisseurs of 18th-century engravings know the rake as a dissolute, drink-addled immoralist, but it would be hard to find a man more removed from such a ne er-do-well sort than the hale crew who ambled down Rake the label s catwalk. Creative director Clive Darby claimed he had Robert Redford in mind, in 1969 s Downhill Racer, one of his golden-boy movie moments—though that particular role didn t really seem like much of a model for this collection. Maybe the turtlenecks and the shearling would have passed muster in Redford s wardrobe. Otherwise, his character s ski-sleekness was replaced by sturdy layering in shades of earth and stone: tweed over plaid, jacket over substantial knitwear or even another jacket. In keeping with the movie s setting, Darby tried on a halfhearted Tyrolean slant with some hats and kniebundhosen (below-the-knee lederhosen). A cute incongruity, given that Rake is one of the standard-bearers for the "new" Savile Row. The real focus was on an unstuffed sartorialism: Single-buttoned jackets were tailored almost bum-freezingly short, ties took a backseat to turtlenecks (or nothing at all), a pintucked denim shirt was an evening option. If there was a casualness to the proportions, it suited the chunkiness of the collection. Beards and beefy masculinity shared the catwalk with the usual cheekbones and jawlines.
