It’s really, really hard for a brand to build on the buzz and grow into a real business, and for every Craig Green or Samuel Ross, there are dozens of exciting prospects who haven’t been able to take it to the next level, for whatever nebulous reason.
With that in mind, we’re extremely happy to announce that LEJ – the utterly stylish, tasteful and exciting brand founded by Drakes and Dunhill alumni Luke Walker – is set to open its first pop-up store. We’ve been fans of Luke’s work (and his personal style; his masterful mustache) for some time, and it’s been a joy to watch the company grow and carve out a place for itself, little by little.
LEJ is what “smart” clothing can (and maybe should) be in 2022. We’re very firmly not on the “suit is dead” bandwagon, but what Walker is doing is proving that the suit has company. His shirts, for example, are refined enough to outshine a blazer, but also perfectly suited for an afternoon at the housing estate. Her denim – selvedge; woven in Okayama – is designed to be worn with boots and lace-ups and designed to improve with age, and the outerwear is extremely functional. There’s a mid-century feel to the LEJ aesthetic, but also a bookishness and Japanese attention to detail. And everything is forged with supreme quality in mind.
“I was at Dunhill for three years, wearing a suit, wearing a shirt, wearing a tie – very much into that sartorial spirit that was happening in menswear, and I was kind of fed up with it,” Walker recalls in an interview with Squire Last year. “I wanted to get into jeans, casual shirts, nice leather, but I couldn’t find what I wanted unless it was vintage. I love vintage, I’m surrounded by it, but I wanted find something new on the market. And I felt like the only things I could find were really big brands that made great reproductions of vintage with very cartoonish details, but I wanted something that was a bit more now – with a bit more of our current mood injected into it, rather than just wearing clothes from a previous era.”
LEJ’s residency at 12 Piccadilly Arcade begins today (Friday March 4) and will be dedicated to the new Spring/Summer ’22 collection. Expect light summer layers, beautiful fabrics and a warm welcome from Walker himself.
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