They’re two important British heritage luxury brands so the combination of Daks and John Smedley for a collaboration seems already long overdue.
They’ve just launched an SS25 capsule, bringing together two brands “steeped in history and design, while championing ‘Made in England’ manufacturing”.
It’s a combo that not only marks the 2024 reopening of John Smedley’s production lines for third-party and seasonal orders but also Daks’ 130th anniversary.
The result is an initiative that “recognises their shared values and admiration for one another”, bringing together their design teams and talent to create co-branded collaborative knitwear designs. They’ve dubbed the collection ‘heritage meets innovation on British soil’.
The 12-piece collection references Daks’ archive with John Smedley “reinterpreting two iconic Daks styles, the House check and House stripe, creating exclusive variations of both that can be seen across John Smedley’s knitwear silhouettes.
The colours throughout the capsule also reference the Daks house colours including Vicuna, navy and black, made with John Smedley’s fine gauge Sea Island Cotton.
Having just launched on their respective websites, the collection is also available in Daks stores across Asia as well as via John Smedley’s two London boutiques.
Jess McGuire Dudley, deputy managing director at John Smedley, said: “When we reopened our factory to third-party manufacturing, it was important that we collaborated with brands that truly recognised the benefit of our skills and experience of which we have honed over generations.
“Daks [was] able to work across the full-spectrum of our offering, drawing on our expertise from design and production to create a collection that is innovative in colour and design and that represents both brands’ commitment to responsible manufacturing.”
