‘Leisurewear has a new place in our lives’

The creative director of traditional British outfitters New & Lingwood on his relaxed approach to dressing

For me, particularly as I grow older, everything starts with the fabric – linens, cottons, lightweight cashmere. Tactility and how something feels on your skin is key, and I want to know that it’s something from British mills made from the best materials possible.

As you might imagine, given our focus on pyjamas and leisurewear, I’m a fan of a more relaxed kind of dressing – and I tend to incorporate pyjama elements into everyday clothing. There’s a sense of ease that’s appealing, and it shakes up the rules of tailoring if you wear a pyjama-style shirt with a smart blazer. It subverts the smartness and brings things up to date. I love really traditional, beautifully made pyjamas – they’re a very British thing, with the piping, colours and sense of classicism.

Of course, we’ve all been through a big shake-up in terms of how men dress, and leisurewear has carved out a place in our wardrobes that it didn’t possess before. Men are so much more relaxed in their approach to tailoring, and I think a great sweater can be as elegant and appropriate as a traditional shirt alongside a suit jacket these days. Focusing on the coat is also sound advice in more wintry months – an elegant silhouette, perhaps slightly soft on the shoulders, in a classic tweed or wool will always be a standout choice.

I live in the Suffolk countryside, so when I’m there I tend to stick to a tried-and-tested wardrobe of functional, hard-wearing clothes – cotton-drill trousers, lightweight linen shirts or seersucker in summer, and in colder months a merino-wool jumper.

I really admire Charlie Mccormick’s style, the gardener who’s become an Instagram sensation, in that it’s very practical – solid boots, straight-legged jeans and a great knitted sweater – but very chic. It’s a very British approach to style, which I appreciate.