Drake's
Michael Drake founded his neckwear business in 1977, operating from Haxton Square in the East End of London — a working textile district rather than a luxury address, which was entirely the point. The house began as a manufacturer supplying neckwear to other brands and retailers, building its craft knowledge in conditions that demanded commercial rigour alongside technical excellence. The move to its own retail identity, and to direct engagement with the consumer, came later.
In 2010, Michael Hill acquired the company. Under his direction, Drake's expanded into shirting, knitwear, and outerwear while maintaining the neckwear at the centre of the house's identity and reputation. The expansion has been coherent: every category has been approached with the same logic that governed the original tie business — correct construction, controlled cloth selection, no gimmick.
The Ties
Drake's ties are the benchmark against which English hand-rolled neckwear is measured. The standard of construction is the seven-fold tie: the silk is folded seven times without an internal lining, so the fabric itself provides the body and drape of the blade. This is the same construction principle employed by Charvet and the finest Italian houses — and by Turnbull & Asser for their elevated tier — but Drake's has made it the default across the range rather than a premium option.
The defining feature, for anyone who knows what they are looking at, is the hand-rolled edge. Where a machine-stitched tie shows a regular, perfectly even catch along the blade's edge, the Drake's hand-roll shows an irregular, deliberate catch — thread taken by hand at uneven intervals, in a rhythm that reflects the individual craftsperson who made it. This is not an imperfection. It is the mark of the process.
The silks are sourced from Como, in designs developed by the Drake's studio in London. The colour palette tends toward the muted, the heathered, and the considered — warm grounds, complex patterns that reward proximity more than they announce themselves at a distance.
The Archive Logic
Drake's does not chase trend. The house works with a relatively small number of designs — madder silks, wool-silk blends, knitted wools, regimental stripes in unconventional colourways — which are reissued across seasons in new colourways while the underlying patterns persist in the archive. A Drake's madder silk tie from eight years ago and one from this season are in continuous conversation: same construction, same silk, different colour.
This is the English accessories tradition understood correctly: not fashion, but accretion. A man who buys Drake's ties over fifteen years builds a wardrobe of related objects that cohere because they share a logic, not because they were purchased in the same season.
Scarves and Shirting
The printed wool and cashmere scarves deserve particular mention. The hand-rolled edge standard is maintained — every Drake's scarf is finished by hand, with the same irregular catch visible at the wool selvedge. The scale and colour of the prints show an understanding of how a scarf frames the face and the collar that most accessory producers lack.
The shirting programme — added to the range in the past decade — applies the same philosophy: controlled cloth selection from English and Italian mills, honest construction, no ornamentation beyond what the cloth itself provides.
The Connoisseur's Position
Drake's occupies a specific and somewhat unusual space in the luxury accessories world: it is recognised with immediacy by men who know what they are looking at, and largely unknown to those who do not. There is no status signal in the Drake's name for an uninitiated observer. This is, for the readership of this guide, precisely the correct kind of prestige.
A man wearing a Drake's tie is not announcing a brand. He is wearing something correctly made, in correct cloth, with the correct construction — which is visible, if you are looking, in the way the blade falls and the roll of the knot. That is enough.
FAQs
What is the price of a Drake's tie? Silk ties from approximately £130–185. Wool and wool-silk ties toward the lower end; the finest Como silks toward the upper.
What are the scarves priced at? Printed wool scarves from approximately £180; cashmere from approximately £280–350.
What do Drake's shirts cost? Ready-made shirts from approximately £195. The range is not extensive — this is a focused selection, not a comprehensive shirtmaking operation.