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The go-To gileT: Schoffel
Another ‘keep it-for-a-lifetime’ label, outdoor clothing company Schöffel is known for its hard-working gilets, which can be worn at a shoot, under a smart jacket to keep warm, thrown over a shirt for a spring walk or even used as a blanket or pillow when travelling. If you prefer not to go the fleece route, then last year it introduced its technical Aerobloc lambswool version, which is still machine washable. The brand also offers a repair service on items that are most exposed to the elements, such as gilets and jackets.
The all-weaTher BooTS: DuBarry
Flexibility is key to Irish rural brand Dubarry. Its many timeless, unisex products appeal across the age spectrum – its boots and jackets are beloved by both the Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Anne – and it often creates pieces in navy and black which are traditionally smarter in a town setting.
Nowadays, Dubarry is particularly famed for the waterproof leather Galway Country boot, created in the 90s. Though the style has remained the same, it has been updated technologically to ensure it lasts longer with a direct-injection moulded method of manufacture, where hot liquid polyurethane is inserted between the rubber outsole and leather upper for durability. The company offers a refresh service for its waxed jackets.
the timeless tailoring: holland Cooper
This is another label successfully blending rural and city style with must-have pieces such as jodhpur jeans, neat blazers and bestselling capes and trench coats. Founder Jade Holland Cooper is British fashion royalty: married to Julian Dunkerton, the co-founder of Superdry, she’s become an Instagram star for her brand (44,000 followers and counting), and can count Zara and Mike Tindall as loyal customers.
Her British-made tailoring is inspired by her own childhood in the countryside and an interest in fashion. She pulled out of the London College of Fashion to go to agriculture college – before also dropping out of that when she realised there was a gap in the market for country clothes with a more urban touch.
‘I’m not chasing trends,’ she says. ‘This is about creating a product for a woman who lives a certain lifestyle and will suit it this year and in ten years’ time. It’s all produced the old-fashioned way – hand cut – and with such care and attention.’ Though the brand doesn’t officially offer a repair service, it is big on customer service (that ‘personal touch and going the extra mile’), but it’s more on a case-by-case basis.
the italian edit: Brunello CuCinelli
Countryside Instagram influencer Lady Alice Manners – one third of the Manners sisters, three aristocrat socialites who hail from Belvoir
Castle in Leicestershire – is a big fan of the stylish Italian label Brunello Cucinelli, where a fancy tweed, leather gilet or knitwear is seriously desirable stuff. Its factory is home to skilled workers who are dedicated to updating preloved clothing for clients and restoring pieces, an essential part of Brunello seeing ‘mending as the value that extends the life of things’.
the ClassiC wellies: le Chameau
Le Chameau boots – both the bestselling Jameson quilted leather (as worn by the Duchess of Sussex) and the Chasseur Neoprene varieties – are very much socially acceptable country kit. Head of production and sourcing Alexandra Doubleday describes the boots as ‘professionally sustainable, not fashionably disposable. Our products are iconic, classic and functional – there is a real quiet power about being consistent,’ she says. They are designed to last and you should expect to get anything up to 15 years out of them, though the company knows of boots that have lasted for 27 years. And of course it offers wellington boots too, which nowadays are just as at home on a country walk with the labrador as on the feet of the fashionable crowd at Glastonbury.
the go-anywhere gear: really wild Clothing
This is another brand much loved by the Duchess of Cambridge, who wore some of her older, classic pieces on the October 2019 royal tour of Pakistan (a leather nubuck gilet and her chocolate suede La Mancha boots). Founded in 2002, with its first shop at the Royal Berkshire Shooting School, and later modelled by Kate at Blenheim Palace, Really Wild Clothing is an easy mix of rural and city style. The brand has a go-anywhere, do-anything approach to dressing, all of which ‘is meant to fit seamlessly into your wardrobe season after season so you’re acquiring a collection over the years that you’ll keep,’ says founder Natalie Lake.
Quality is at the brand’s core, with pieces made in small batches from limited runs of fabric (with no waste), so there’s an element of exclusivity about prints. And those La Mancha boots, which are waterproof and handmade by artisans in Spain, are built to last. Many customers tell the company they’ve had the same pair for 15 years (and, where reasonable, the brand can help with repairs such as replacing zips).
the CovetaBle Cashmere: Brora
Underneath the wax jackets and tweed you’re likely to find plenty of Brora cashmere too: hoodies and jogging bottoms on the youngsters and more classic jumpers and snuggly cardigans on their mothers. Brora is very much a ‘nought to 90, all the family’ brand, says founder Victoria Stapleton. It has expanded into linen and silk pieces, and Liberty-print designs too. ‘Slow fashion is something we promote big time – we love it when people tell us stories of the Brora pieces they’ve had for 20 years.’
From Game of Thrones to Killing Eve, GEMMA WHELAN is no stranger to drama – but it’s nothing compared to her real-life highs and lows, as Louise Gannon discovers
With just two episodes to go, ‘How will Killing Eve end?’ is the only question anyone asks the hit show’s newest recruit Gemma Whelan. But if you’re hoping for any spoilers from her, you’ll be disappointed. The plot of the hugely anticipated third series, which was brought forward by the BBC specially to keep people entertained during lockdown (and, unlike the previous two series, shown weekly rather than available to binge-watch), is closely guarded. And, while Gemma absolutely cannot, she says, give even a hint as to what happens between the show’s psychopathic killer Villanelle (Jodie Comer) and Eve Polastri (Sandra Oh), the MI6 operative on her trail, she will reveal she went on her own undercover mission on set – to sneak around Villanelle’s wardrobe. ‘Obviously, I had to see her outfits,’ laughs the Leeds-born actress, who is no stranger to a TV phenomenon, having starred as Yara Greyjoy in Game of Thrones. ‘Her clothes are just incredible.’
The fashion on Killing Eve has become almost as important as the storylines themselves – every outfit Villanelle dons is dissected, with brands including Alexander McQueen and Isabel Marant lending clothes for the show, while fans have been seeking out their own replicas of outfits such as the iconic bubblegum-pink Molly Goddard dress from series one.
Gemma plays Geraldine, the daughter of ruthless MI6 chief Carolyn Martens (Fiona Shaw) and sister of computer whiz Kenny Stowton (Sean Delaney). While Geraldine describes herself as ‘an empath’, her mother is cold and standoffish, and they are both trying to process the killing of Kenny in the opening episode. ‘Geraldine is very emotional so she’s a total contrast to her mother,’ Gemma says. ‘It’s an amazing show to be part of and it’s exactly like being in Game of Thrones – you are absolutely sworn to secrecy about what happens.’
While much has been made of Villanelle and Eve finally kissing on a bus, Gemma isn’t surprised that many viewers wondered if her
character might be romantically involved with one of the lead females. She laughs: ‘A lot of the women I’ve played have explored their sexuality, from Yara Greyjoy [the bisexual warrior queen] in Game of Thrones toKatein Upstart Crow [Ben Elton’s critically acclaimed stage adaptation of his TV series]. And, of course, I was in
Gentleman Jack [Gemma played Marian, sister of 19th-century lesbian diarist Anne Lister, in the BBC drama]. I can’t say what will happen in
Killing Eve but we live in different times and that’s reflected in how characters are written, because good drama should reflect real life.’
Right now times could not be more different. Gemma and her family are getting back to the ‘new normal’ after her writer and comedian husband Gerry Howell, who works part-time in patient liaison at London’s Maudsley Hospital, was struck down by COVID-19 just after lockdown.
‘Tracking back it was fairly inevitable that he would have had contact with the virus because he works opposite King’s College Hospital where the first London cases were,’ says Gemma, speaking from her South London kitchen. ‘He didn’t feel well so he went into the spare room. I put trays of food outside the door and neighbours kindly sent us round oranges, vitamin C and paracetamol. But the hardest thing was trying to keep our two-year-old daughter Frances out of his room and telling her that she had to stay away from Daddy.
‘It got pretty scary. By day five he was still really unwell and I wondered: “Is this the time I need to make a call?” but thankfully that was the low point. Frances and I had a few days of coughing so I think we’ve also had it but mildly, although none of us has been tested.’
As the 39-year-old chats to us she’s watching Gerry on all fours with a sheepskin on his back playing at being a hamster for his daughter. There’s a paddling pool blown up and waiting to be dragged into the garden and various craft and cookery items on every surface.
‘Like other families in Britain, and the rest of the world,’ she says, ‘we are trying to keep spirits up and following the rules about staying in and
washing hands. We’re also ordering food from local businesses to try to support them.’
There’s a strong streak of stoicism in Gemma. Privately educated, she had a happy home life and excelled at dance, but as a teenager was hospitalised with anorexia. ‘I can’t exactly say why it started,’ she says. ‘It could have been to do with control. What I remember most vividly is that first day I was in hospital and a nurse said to me: “Most people don’t recover from this.” I was very ill but that shocked me. It felt like a challenge. I thought: “Well, I am going to.” I was lucky I had that mindset, plus incredible support.
‘I hate to think of what I put my parents through, but that illness formed who I am now. Getting through it made me fearless; it made me want to never waste any time, and to put over a very realistic body image to other women. While I love to get dressed up for things like the Baftas, when I put photos of myself on Instagram I don’t wear make-up – I want to show who I am without any artifice. I think it’s a better message to send.’
After studying performing arts at Middlesex University, Gemma won a Funny Woman award in 2010 for her comedy, although she jokes that she ‘died on stage many times’. The following year she turned to serious acting like her heroine Olivia Colman and auditioned for a new drama, an adaptation of George R R Martin’s fantasy books, which, of course, we know now as the TV juggernaut Game of Thrones. ‘I didn’t think I stood a chance but I gave it my best shot,’ she recalls. ‘That job changed my life. It helped me make my mark as an actress. To be part of a show such as Killing Eve is not something I would have ever thought possible a few years ago. Let’s just hope once the world starts working again there will be more.’
Series 3 of Killing Eve is on BBC One and iPlayer
2. PaiR fabulous with fuNCtioNal
The original wall dividing the stairway from the rest of the ground floor was knocked down, creating a long open-plan space consisting of the living room, dining room and kitchen. The latter dominates the rear of the house, adorned with mirrors, lamps and art. ‘Everyone ends up gathering here,’ says Athena. ‘So why not have that decorative element in your most used space?’