Monday, 11th January 2010
Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law are sporting some Sunspel items in their publicity shots for the recently released Sherlock Holmes movie, and we can tell you they both look decidedly dapper.
The clothes were our navy Riviera polo, plain white boxers, classic tee in navy, and fine striped t-shirt in grey.
The pair are currently promoting Guy Ritchie’s radical take on the classic story – radical not least for Holmes and Watson’s sartorial style, a far cry from the old deerstalker and cape. Here Watson is all sharp tailoring while Holmes adopts a more eccentric, romantic look. Good stuff.
Photo credit: Just Jared
Tuesday, 15th December 2009
We’ve donated 100 of our underwear t-shirts to Christmas boxes which are being sent out to soldiers of the Grenadier Guards, who are patrolling and fighting in the depths of the freezing Afghan winter.
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Wednesday, 7th October 2009
We’ve wanted to take some great new photographs of our clothes for a while – photographs that give a really good sense of what they look and feel like when you see them up close.
Because our fabrics are unique (the way they are actually knitted together) they don’t always look like what you’re used to.
The differences are subtle though – for example, the 007 polos have a matt, textured fabric that looks more rugged than the smooth look you get from a standard pique polo shirt.
Apart from anything, we wanted people to know more about Sunspel and more about what they are buying.
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Thursday, 1st October 2009
You might be surprised at the places Sunspel has been. We kept Tony cool in the Sopranos. We’ve wrapped ourselves around Johnny Depp, and around Daniel Craig. In fact Sunspel has been seen on some of the most delightful male acting talent of recent decades.
It started years ago at the National Theatre and the RSC at Strafford, very probably for a combination of reasons. One, Sunspel gives an instant classic look. In other words, underwear that wouldn’t be out of place in another era (in Edwardian times, say). Two, you get quality.
Nick Kamen in the 1985 Levi's "Launderette" television commercial
Lindy Heming is a distinguished costume designer who has come to us on numerous occasions. In her words:
‘There have been many characters I’ve dressed in Sunspel vests, t-shirtsand underwear, because they’re classic, timeless and beautifully made.’
(Thanks Lindy. We couldn’t have put it better ourselves.)
Sunspel spent a brief period doing rather more commercial work in TV ads (it was Sunspel boxers Nick Kamen wore so fetchingly in the iconic ‘launderette’ ad for Levi’s), before moving into the movies…
An early appearance was in the film ‘84 Charing Cross Road’, in which Anthony Hopkins plays a bookseller who builds a friendship with Anne Bancroft (she of ‘The Graduate’ fame) purely through letters. Not what you’d call an action movie, but something of a quiet classic.
The pace stepped up when Johnny Depp wore Sunspel in a mainly World War II period piece called ‘The Man Who Cried’. He looked pretty damn good even if the film wasn’t a huge success.
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Tuesday, 18th August 2009
We were approached by design team at Liam Gallagher’s clothing label (Pretty Green) to create and supply their t-shirts and polo shirts in a range of colours and styles based on original Sunspel patterns. It turns out that Liam Gallagher has been a fan for years and wears nothing else underneath. With deadlines looming for promotion and photography for Oasis’s global tour, we managed to do the sampling, printing and colour matching in the space of about four weeks.
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Wednesday, 15th July 2009
When you’re skiing alone, without a single soul within five million square miles, and nothing but a flat white horizon ahead, you have a lot of time to think about your identity – if only to ponder, when things get really tough, what in God’s name am I doing here?
So who, or more specifically, what, does Ben Saunders think he is? To be honest, he’s not quite sure how to describe himself. ‘Adventurer’ has rather too many dodgy connotations. But ‘explorer’, especially ‘polar explorer’, seems to set his teeth on edge.
‘Returning to the city after months on the ice is like watching TV with the volume up too far’
It’s all down to Saunders’ relationship with his celebrated antecedents. He has clearly studied them closely: he knows just about everything about past polar expeditions: right down to who financed Captain Scott, or how many dogs Scott’s arch Norwegian rival, Amundsen, took when he won the race to the Pole in 1912 (for the record, he began with 52, ended with 16 and many of the casualties ended up on the dinner menu).
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Sunday, 12th July 2009
Charlie Watts, The Rolling Stones. Sporting Sunspel on stage...
We’re delighted to be making t-shirts and polo shirts for Liam Gallagher’s new clothing label Pretty Green. Turns out Liam’s being buying Sunspel from Selfridges for years, so we know he has a genuine love of quality clothing.
But Liam is just one musical connection for Sunspel. Another one is with Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones. We produced some bespoke t-shirts for him for the 2007 Rolling Stones European tour. On each leg of the tour, the t-shirt he wore reflected the colours of the relevant national football team.
We understand David Gray is another fan, as is Stuart Staples of Tindersticks fame. The Tindersticks printed logos on classic Sunspel boxer shorts as band tour merchandise back in the day.
Thursday, 9th July 2009
Tell us a bit about Sunspel and how they came to be in underwear.
Sunspel's factory in Long Eaton
Sunspel designs and makes the world’s finest English t-shirts, sleepwear and underwear, and we’ve been doing it for over 150 years. We’re experts in clothing that’s worn close to the skin.
We combine exceptionally soft cottons with unique fabric structures to create clothing with unparalleled comfort and style. We think of it as clothing that completes you, so that whatever else you wear, you know your day is built on solid foundations.
Our ethos is built on our heritage, and it’s all about timeless English designs made with the finest fabrics and highest levels of workmanship. It’s a real heritage we have here. We don’t have to invent one.
Sunspel is a family business. It was originally called Thomas A Hill & Co, and it’s always been based in Long Eaton. The company started out by exporting Sea Island cotton t-shirts to China and Japan, before China got up to speed and started to reverse the trend. Sunspel is now described as a ‘cult heritage brand’. That’s fine by us, although we’re not just about the past. Our clothes are as relevant now as they ever have been.
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Friday, 20th February 2009
Sunspel has a long standing relationship with English designer Margaret Howell. We liaise on the seasonal design process, sampling and production. Over the years we have supplied superfine cotton tops in seasonal colours for the company’s men’s and women’s collections, along with ribbed cotton pieces and garment dyed wool pieces for women. These have been sold in the UK and Japan.
Feedback on the new site…
Thursday, 5th November 2009
The new website has given us the opportunity to add to the range of clothes we sell online. We’ve been able to add hugely to the range of colours, for example. So now you can get our classic crew neck t-shirt in ‘charcoal’, ‘coffee’, ‘evergreen’ – in fact 11 different colours. That’s many more than we used to have. We’ve also added more colours and styles to our polo-shirts.
We’ve also been able to add whole new ranges. So now you can buy our new long sleeved shirts (made out of our own fine version of pique). Or a range of extremely soft and comfortable jerseys and cardigans in exceptionally lightweight merino wool (good for the winter). We’re also selling some beautiful cashmere scarves, cashmere socks and merino wool socks.
Thank you for all the feedback on the new website. It’s only been live for a little while but many of you have told us how much you like it. Thanks to everyone who contacted us. It’s always good to hear from our customers (if you’re reading this and have something to say – please use the comments box below, or our feedback form or email us at lifestyle@sunspel.com).
Let us know! We appreciate your input.
Here is some of the feedback we’ve received since the website was launched: