Kim Jones, Dunhill’s creative director, will put his vision of a modern Dunhill on the Paris menswear catwalk at the Maison de l’Architecture on Sunday. (Chris Moore/Karl Prouse)
It is England, 1914. Imagine Alfred Dunhill dashing along in his motor vehicle at a daring 12 miles an hour, his eyes flicking to his rose gold stopwatch, tooting his four-note horn, the entrepreneur in a leather coat with matching goggles. And all these magnificent pieces designed by himself.
The heritage of Dunhill is so broad and so British: from its beginnings with the birth of the car to creating luxury accessories for motorcycling, aviation and the oh-so-fashionable smokers in the Roaring Twenties.
“This is from the 1920s – from the collaboration with Japan,” says Kim Jones, 32, Dunhill’s creative director, who will put his vision of a modern Dunhill on the Paris menswear catwalk at the Maison de l’Architecture on Sunday.
Jones was referring to a dynamic and ergonomic range of travel bags in wood-grain leather. But it would be a stretch to guess that a pen case from the 1920s had been the inspiration.
