The return of Joe Casely-Hayford for John Lewis

hat better way to start your Friday than to receive a fright from Sibling before the facilitation of further excitement with the news of the return of Joe Casely-Hayford for John Lewis for AW10. What more, the collection is soon to hit shop floors and has doubled in size from its preceding SS10 range. The sophomore collection of this intriguing collaboration once again celebrates true craftsmanship and home grown British manufacturing. With collaborations with remote mills in Yorkshire, tartan experts in Selkirk and respected bag maker Chapman to name but a few, the collection once again brings seemingly specialist products to a wider audience without losing any of the integrity that make their products special. The High Street just got that bit more interesting...

"Our Aw10 collection draws influence from a celebrated group of 20th century British artists, a number of whom were members of the famous St Ives Artist Colony set up in 1928. Our clothes have inherited the strong spirit of this movement and adopted the sculptor Henry Moore's idea of continuity and endurance, words which embody the ethos of this project"

Joe Casely Hayford

The debut thirty piece capsule collection for SS10 celebrated the best of authentic British design while providing a complete wardrobe, encompassing everything from jackets to shoes. It was, not surprisingly, extremely well received. AW10 sees Casely-Hayford build upon this concept of collaboration with the finest British manufacturers to crate a range of future classic designs. Following the success of last season's partnership with Barbour, the new collection includes a winter version of the extremely popular Bezique semi tailored blazer (which I of course nabbed for myself last season), and the introduction of a unique waxed cotton and Melton padded Pea Coat (as shown above). Simply stunning. With over fifty pieces in the collection and prices ranging from £60 to £400 ther really is something for every man.


The new collection sees the introduction of two key seasonal overcoats, the Pallas and the Paris. Both are derived from the classic Chesterfield Topcoat. Both are reinventions of a stalwart of a true Englishman's wardrobe. The Pallas is crafted from coarse Marling and Evans Melange tweed and has a lightweight quilted body, giving it an otherwise formal topcoat a unique and contemporary sporty twist. Meanwhile, the Paris continues the Chesterfield theme but includes new features including dropped shoulders and a matching lightweight, padded zip out gilet. The cloth has been exclusively developed and woven by the Abraham Moon mill in Yorkshire. If all that wasn't exciting enough, the season sees Joe Casely-Hayford launch his first exclusively crafted suit for the High Street. Utilising a transeasonal super 130s Savile Clifford travel worsted cloth the suit will be something every man should have hanging in his wardrobe.

The increased collection size has enabled Casely-Hayford to expand the range of accessories on offer to include two new satchels developed with the respected bag maker Chapman, who is one of only a handful heritage luggage manufacturers still producing entirely in the UK. Through joining forces with the tartan experts Lochcarron of Selkirk, Casely-Hayford has designed two new bold check lambswool and cashmere mix scarves. Regular readers will remember the effect that last seasons Pukk leather brogues had on me. Made by Cheaney, the beautiful brogues captured my imagination the moment I saw them, this seasons incarnation have had the same affect on me. The Mentor shoe, a new take on the classic Oxford, uses sophisticated design elements including an integral punched toe cap and a chamfered Goodyear Welted sole to make a shoe both wonderfully stylish yet practical. The Mentor is from Cheaney and is once again produced using traditional methods by Northampton craftsmen. Earlier this week I was fortunate enough to be invited to their Desborough factory to watch the final batch of shoes being crafted. It was an amazing experience and I'll be posting an in depth feature on the processes involved early next week. Keep your eyes peeled!

Posted in: Craft, Designers, High Street