BrandAlley Home

The mania revolving around the London’s recent Fashion Week was tantamount to the hysteria orbiting the sporting stadiums of England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Italy and France during the latest Six Nations rugby tournament. Whilst the big chaps duke it out on grassy rectangular battlefields, BrandAlley’s Christian Rose-Day sniffs around for the best brands, products, celebrities and designers fighting their country’s cause on the fashion front of menswear.

It may not be our year in the rugby, but England’s bespoke passions and contemporary vision make us champions in the field of finery. We invented the suit, after all. We have designers that all touch upon aspects of English heritage with a thoroughly modern feel – Alexander McQueen (he lives on), Kim Jones (at Dunhill), James Long, James Small, Paul Smith, Vivienne Westwood, Christopher Shannon, Aitor Throup; we have the brands as well – b-Store, Burberry, Ben Sherman, even Liam Gallagher’s psychedelic mod label, Pretty Green, has done pretty good since its inception; and we also have the killer items – the Burberry Prorsum Spring Suit (thanks to reigning British Menswear Designer, Christopher Bailey), Carolyn Massey’s waxed cotton military backpack, any of Lou Dalton’s knitwear, any of Patrick Grant’s Saville Row tailoring for E. Tautz, and anything from Harris Elliot’s appropriately-named (for rugby) Manoeuvre collection which, although not entirely befitting of a rugby scrum, is inspired by freedom of movement.

England’s most fashionable rugby player? James Haskell for wearing pink shirts for Stade Français and for being on the judging panel of last year’s Shortlist magazine Grooming Awards.

France will likely be the outright winners of the Six Nations on the field, and the gall of Gaul invokes style and panache in whatever game they play. At the moment, French fashion is being defined by a sense of freedom and whimsy.

Despite the absence of French designers at the helm of brands like Yves Saint Lauren and Lanvin, per se, they will always create big waves internationally (the latter’s Spring/Summer Sequin High Tops will have Kanye & co salivating).

But then there’s Louis Vuitton with Paul Helbers leading the charge, a double whammy of French to the power of French. This year, Helbers will be loved for his relaxed autumnal Parisian elegance with scruffy shirts, suit trousers tucked into boots, and bags featuring Impressionist prints. The young and vibrant star of French menswear design is Romain Kremer, whose cyberdog approach has developed some very futuristic styles with shoe manufacturer, Camper.

Naturellement, we cant talk about the French team without mentioning their smell. Whilst the Chanels, the Diors, the Gaultiers, and the Givenchys of France are all playing rather well in duty free lounges of the world, keep your eye out for the Terre D’Hermès eau de toilette – by Hermès – because it’s a classic.

Super cool status must surely go to style icon, Vincent Cassel, because not only did he act in films such as La Haine, Ocean’s 11 and Shrek, but he’s also married to equally super cool, Monica Bellucci. How cool? Ocean’s of Cool.

France’s most fashionable rugby player? Scrum-half Morgan Parra; young and full of invention, too cool for school.

What they lack in trophy cabinet filler, the Italians of Italy most surely make up for with Mediterranean stylistic verve. When you have names like Armani, Gucci, Prada, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana and Ferrari (lest we forget) on your side, you’re already winning in the cool stakes. Take your pick, it’s always going to be a winner.

Frida Giannini’s finely detailed luxury collection for Gucci and Stefano Pilati’s conceptually cut designs for Yves Saint Laurant, both scored highly at the Paris and Milan Fashion Weeks, but if you’re stuck for something new and Italian, there’s always Bottega Veneta’s autumn masculinity with rockabilly metallic blazers, black boots, rolled up T-shirts and military trousers.

There’s also Missoni’s collaborations with shoemakers Converse on the Chuck Taylor Hi model sneaker – due out any day now – which features the trademark Missoni zig-zag pattern and a cornucopia of colour. And for colour freaks yearning for more intergalactic Italo-Disco coolness, the low-cost luxury wristwatches from the ToyWatch brand are exceptionally playful.

In terms of style icon, Italy’s main man is actor and former model, Gabriel Garko, the recent Vanity Fair Italy cover star, pictured here in a rather dapper three-piece, showing us his best ‘looking out of window’ pose.

Italy’s most fashionable rugby player? All of them! Who’s not cool in Italy?!

Whilst robustly and ruggedly in-your-face on the pitch, the Irish of Ireland seem to be mainly unseen in their work for menswear. Recent London College of Fashion graduate, Steve Corcoran, will go far with his military tailoring and elegant fabrics, whilst Indigo & Cloth indie store owner, Garrett Pitcher, has a unique denim-obsessed style that most blokes will identify with.

When it comes to Irish designers of The Now, there really is only one name to know: J.W. Anderson. This Northern Irishman is full of promise thanks to designs inspired by literary and historical figures which guarantee to lend any look a dramatic, romantic, and edgy aesthetic. His recent big showings were incredibly well received – Harrods being most keen to buy – and included plaid blanket jackets and slim tartan trousers.

“Ireland has always been a small but significant creative hub,”says Cillian O’Connor, Editor of menswear musing blog, Male Mode . “While many of our fashion talents move abroad, the growth of indigenous brands like Farrell & Brown and Louis Copeland goes some way in marking this country on the design map.”

Irish celeb coolness comes in the form of Tudors actor, Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Despite his penchant for tanning, he always looks sharp in an open-collar shirt or fitted v-neck tee.

Ireland’s most fashionable rugby player? Winger, Tommy Bowe, who seems to make the right choices when it comes to both casual and formal attire. Despite often being limited to sportswear, he opts for less conventional, banal choices.

Scotland has Gaelic grunt both on and off the field of play. The Caledonian stylistic spirit is evident not only in the brawny ball chasers in blue, but in the inordinate number of trendy musicians making their clarion call from the Highlands (see Franz Ferdinand, Primal Scream, Snow Patrol, The View, The Fratellis, Paolo Nutini). Whilst they might not have the persuasion to thump lumps out of each other on a pitch, they would probably sing the best national anthem of the Six Nations tournament, and look decidedly cool doing it. 

Of course, Lanarkshire-born can’t-do-no-wrong-un, Christopher Kane – who is mainly a dab hand at designing clothes for the fairer sex – does extend his talents to the benefit of us chaps occasionally, such as with this must-have Atomic T-shirt, weighing in at a tidy £190!

Besides Christopher, we should be looking to Glaswegian Deryck Walker, who has previously worked for Comme des Garçons and Versace, and was 2009’s Designer of the Year (for the second year in a row) at the Scottish Style Awards, probably due to the way he is giving traditional Harris Tweed a welcome space in the modern man’s wardrobe. Interestingly, Deryck is also Scotland’s 9th most eligible man, according to Living Scotsman

Scotland’s most fashionable rugby player? Full-back Hugo Southwell, the public school legend, only because he went au naturel for his club’s 2010 Diex Du Stade Calendar (look it up, ladies!)

Despite their Celtic resolve, the Welsh of Wales claim the wooden spoon in our Six Nations of Cool mainly because there’s a noticeable dearth of menswear talent. The ladies team are showing great guns with the Welsh Designer Collective of Elinor Franklin, Emma Griffiths and Josie Beckett proving popular recently, but the chaps are still mainly resting on the laurels of old school faves like Julien MacDonald (OBE) and the mighty Jeff Banks (CBE).

Wales does have at least one fashion-related warrior flying the flag: Matthew Hitt from Rhondda Valley, models for the likes of Prada, Gucci, Bennetton, DKNY and Lanvin.

“The coolest store and best-dressed man in Wales is definitely Daniel Jenkins in Monmouth, who remarkably is only 24 and has his own store selling the best LFW/British menswear designers such as Martine Rose,”says Elliott James Sainsbury, Senior Fashion Writer for Buck Style . “Wales is having a fashion moment mainly thanks to the dedication of this rather dashing young chap.”

Wales’ most fashionable rugby player? No 8, Andy Powell, for his hirsute face tailoring and audacious M4 golf cart antics. Nice work, chap!

Of course, pigeonholing each country in terms of style is, perhaps, a pointless task because, let’s face it, fashion transcends geographical borders. Marcus Jaye, Creative Director for The Chic Geek puts it beautifully: “the UK works together as a whole, we don’t usually define ourselves to where we come from, it’s more about where we end up. It’s true there are Scottish designers etc. but generally they all come under Team GB. We even embrace designers from outside the UK as British if they choose to design and work here. We might not have the manufacturing of Italy or the haute couture of France, but we have history, particularly in menswear. We also have the eclectic eye for being different and the eccentricity of non-conformism”