Sartorial Sportsmen

Sartorial SPORTSMEN

The seemingly disparate worlds of Savile Row and American football collided this weekend, as a clutch of NFL players visited Huntsman’s Savile Row headquarters to have the finishing touches made to their bespoke suits. The players - Allen Hurns and Allen Robinson – are members of the Jacksonville Jaguars NFL team, and were visiting London for their October 2nd match against the Indianapolis Colts, at Wembley Stadium. But they also took the opportunity during the trip to complete the bespoke experience that they had embarked on this summer, when Huntsman’s creative director Campbell Carey travelled to Jacksonville, Florida, to fit Hurns and Robinson for their suits. Huntsman-Satorial-Sportsmen-Image2 Huntsman-Satorial-Sportsmen-Image1 Carey notes that working in the functional dressing rooms of a football stadium, in an atmosphere of 100 degree heat and 80% humidity, couldn’t be further from the very British environs of Huntsman’s Savile Row headquarters. “Us Glaswegians aren’t made for that weather,” said Carey with a wry smile. However, he said, being able to bring Huntsman’s signature Savile Row suiting to such a different setting was an “exciting and exhilarating experience.”

“It’s a group of experts, working as a team to create a bespoke suit,” said one of the players. “It’s the same as a game of football – it’s a team effort.”

Hurns’ suit is a two-piece, peak lapel suit in a Beaujolais-coloured wool and mohair blend, while Morrison’s is a two-piece, peak lapel suit in the same wool and mohair blend, in RAF blue. The cloth of both the suits is lightweight with an open weave, so the players can wear the suits comfortably in Florida’s heat, while the wool was chosen for its rapid crease recovery, so the suits will resist wrinkling during the players’ frequent travels. Huntsman-Satorial-Sportsmen-Image4 Huntsman-Satorial-Sportsmen-Image5 Ahead of the match on Sunday, the players were interviewed by the BBC and Sky Sports News during their Huntsman fitting. And another player, Paul Posluszny, also partook of the Huntsman bespoke experience, with his first fitting at the house’s headquarters over the weekend. And Huntsman’s collaboration with the team didn’t stop there. After the match, the Jaguars’ owner Shahid Kahn threw a party for the team on his London-moored yacht. Huntsman designed a one-off collection of espadrilles in three of its house tweeds for guests to wear on the boat, along with pure kishorn cashmere scarves, which were given to the players. Huntsman-Satorial-Sportsmen-Image3 And while the grit of American football might seem far removed from the stately environment of Savile Row, one of the Jaguars players noted that the disciplines of football and tailoring are surprisingly similar. “It’s a group of experts, working as a team to create a bespoke suit,” said one of the players. “It’s the same as a game of football – it’s a team effort.”