As featured by The Guardian in an article by Rachel Hall :
Heritage checks and tweeds, sharp tailoring and expensive watches – shoppers are increasingly seeking to emulate the old money English upper-class style portrayed in Guy Ritchie’s hit Netflix series The Gentlemen ,
How to translate the extravagant outfits worn by the characters in the nobility-turned-gangster caper to real life has sparked much discussion online, from the red velvet suit worn by Susie Glass, played by Kaya Scodelario, to Theo James as Eddie Horniman in three-piece tweed and his brother Freddy, played by Daniel Ings, in a hand-feathered chicken costume.
Brands featured in the series say they have seen notable sales increases. Cordings of Piccadilly said it had had “a really positive effect”, with the Wincanton trouser suit worn by Joely Richardson as Lady Sabrina, and Follifoot coat worn by Ings’ Freddy, now on a waiting list. Clare Haggas, which supplied the printed scarves, has seen “an upturn in website visits and sales and new customers”.
The Gentlemen seeks to capture the class signifiers sported by the kind of people who inherit country manors. Though amplified in Ritchie’s signature style, foreign audiences have been surprised to learn that the traditional yet eccentric looks worn by the English aristocrats in The Gentlemen are not so far removed from reality – and a long way from quiet luxury.
Ings said: “The lovely guy who’s the real duke of the house, when we were shooting he would come down and have a look around and he was in the bright red cords and the checked shirt there – for sure I don’t think there’s anything in it, in terms of the Horniman clan and that fashion, which is so unbelievable.”
Loulou Bontemps, a costume designer for the show, said she had been inspired by “walking round London or the countryside observing people”, adding that she had selected “quintessentially British brands”.
“Anyone who lives in the countryside or knows someone with an estate or goes to one of their pubs has met someone like this, whereas Americans think it’s ridiculous. That’s something Guy is very passionate about: every story, although heightened and stylised, has to be believable. It was exciting for people to see a cool version of the assumption of how people who live in that world dress,” she said.