Steven Berkoff in his metal-gray double-breasted as Victor Maitland; Joseph Wiseman in his off-white Nehru as Dr. No—plus Prince Charles in a roomy blazer and one arm in a sling, looking nautically Dr. Evil—were all references in this Mark Weston collection of lair-wear for Dunhill. The models strode purposefully out from a fog of blue smoke as if they’d just capped some hapless sidekick after allowing him a final cigarette. Many carried lizard-detailed old-school briefcases you suspected were packed with greenbacks or diamonds.
This play on the sensuality of villainy was an effectively ironic strategy for bypassing the problems inherent in creating alpha-male representations at a time when the very notion of an alpha male seems defunct—or at least due a complete recalibration to meet utterly different criteria. That radical shift in the value systems at play was reflected in the lurching glitch effect on printed garments featuring images of Dunhill’s Jermyn Street store and the house logo. The tailored jacket was treated like a wrap dress via a cut that saw it single-buttoned on the front of the right hip—a very clever and lovely shape.
Loose silk and sateen pants, sometimes layered under shorts, were worn with lizard hotel slippers or shoes with gold toe taps that you could see on the mirrored runway. The louche and radical formalwear was matched by strongly masculine informality; a black tracksuit in leather with patches of caramel and tobacco on the shoulder and upper arm, double-layered raw-cut silk tanks, and a poncho in that print and black leather. This show about baddies was a goodie.
