Modern Pastoral
By Leah Bourne
Sherlock Holmes became a tweed icon at the turn of the last century after sporting nubby wool capes while on the trail of London's miscreants. Ralph Lauren's first collection in 1968 made the tweed suit a menswear staple. And now Lower East Side hipsters can't seem to get enough of the classic suiting fabric, signaling that tweed is staging a comeback. For his fall collection, Junya Watanabe spun the storied fabric into schoolboy blazers nostalgic for jaunts across Cambridge's Bridge of Sighs. And with the recent sartorial resurgence, it's no surprise that tweed is migrating beyond lapels and finding its way into accessories like Etro's patchwork bag and Harrys of London's loafers. Alias' modernist Taormina chair proves that tweed has a life beyond its retro country-club image.
1 Junya Watanabe Man brown tweed jacket ($1,595), red-and-white gingham shirt ($380) and brown corduroy pants with leather patch pockets ($465; Comme des Garc,ons N.Y., 212-604-9200) 2 Loro Piana baby cashmere scarf ($775; loropiana.com 3 Alfredo Haeberli for Alias Taormina chair in Kvadrat fabric ($940; aliasusa.com 4 J. Crew tweed fedora hat ($68; jcrew.com 5 Etro nylon and tweed men's bag ($1,400; etro.it) 6 Alexander Olch blue and gray herringbone tie ($160; Bergdorf Goodman Men's, 212-753-7300) 7 Harrys of London Mansion slippers ($650; San Giorgio Shoes for Men, 702-770-3599) 8 Ralph Lauren Home Balines standard sham ($175) and Baslow Tattersal European sham ($350; ralphlaurenhome.com