DRAKE'S
STORY SO FAR
Founded in 1977 by three former Aquascutum employees — Michael Drake, Jeremy Hull and Isabel Dickson — starting with men’s scarves before becoming known for handmade ties and pocket squares. Michael Drake retired in 2010, and the company was bought by lead designer Michael Hill together with Mark Cho, co-founder of Hong Kong tailoring house The Armoury, who remain its owners. In April 2013 Drake’s consolidated production onto Haberdasher Street in East London, housing its factory, design studio, showroom, warehouse and head office under one roof, and that July it acquired the Rayner and Sturges shirt factory in Chard, Somerset, employing 35 people making bespoke and ready-to-wear shirts. The brand has won the Queen’s Award for Export and the UK Fashion Export Gold Award, has stores including 9 Savile Row and a New York outpost opened in 2022, and collaborates with names including Fred Perry, J.Crew and Aimé Leon Dore.
DESIGNED BY
Designed in-house at Drake’s Haberdasher Street premises in East London, under owners Michael Hill (lead designer) and Mark Cho. UK-based: Yes.
MADE BY
Per the brand’s own statements and independent press coverage: ties and accessories are handmade at Drake’s own factory on Haberdasher Street, East London, and shirts are made at the Rayner and Sturges factory in Chard, Somerset, which Drake’s acquired in 2013 and which employs 35 people. Single-site-per-category, in-house UK manufacture across two English sites; no parts-by-percentage breakdown published.
TO BUY
Further information
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake%27s_(haberdashers)
Further research reading
https://therake.com/stories/tie-breaker-inside-the-drakes-factory
Region Made
Haberdasher Street, London (ties, accessories); Chard, Somerset (shirts)
