The Rake

It’s a sad sign of the experience we’ve lived through when I find myself writing my second consecutive Founder’s letter in homage to a great man who has passed away. A collective sob was felt throughout the sartorial universe when we learned of Gigi

When Oprah Winfrey’s interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry was broadcast, a week or so before this issue of The Rake went to print, I confess to thinking about one person in particular. It wasn’t a member of the royal family, or a commentator

Though rock is now filed firmly in the Heritage section alongside jazz and folk, its official history still rules our thinking about popular music. Everything started with Elvis Presley, the wisdom still goes, and before him there was only dross. Nat

The chain of peaks after which my kin and I are named is gradually losing its crisp-white appearance due to climate change depleting its glaciers. Conversely, my coarse, element-cheating coat — which, with its fine woolly undercoat, should serve as i

The rubric for Pocket Guide was written with guys like Michael Hainey in mind. Before becoming a Deputy Editor of Air Mail, he was the Deputy Editor of GQ, the Executive Editorial Director of Esquire, and the author of a must-read memoir, After Visit

Freddy Carter has more than the required amount of high cheekbones and unfettered charm to propel his career as an actor. While the 28-year-old was growing up surrounded by the farms and coastline of Somerset, and amid short stints in Cyprus and the

There are generally two breeds of interviewer. The first kind are assiduous about getting prepped for their subject. Sir David Frost was the exemplar here; when I turned up to interview him some years ago, he spent the first few minutes making ostent

In the biz, it is known as ‘ugging up’. It may not ring a bell, but you’ll know it when you see it. We are referring to that point in an actress’s career when she is justifiably tired of being judged as much for her ethereal looks as her talent. And

Techno-textiles, techtextiles, technical fabrics — call them what you want, but fabrics based on scientific ingenuity are very much a thing (in the sense of that word that’s now a thing). They’ve actually been around for decades (in the form of Neopr

special thanks to the Prince de Galles Hotel, Paris all garments available to order on TheRake.com Why has Lorenzo Cifonelli, the creator of some of the most mythical and coveted tailoring in the world, whose family invented the famous Cifonelli shou

Alexander Hascher’s mission has taken him on an epic transcontinental journey and resulted in the creation of one of the most innovative garments in men’s classic style: the lightest jacket the world has ever known. “My family is German but I grew up

The seasoned dressers reading this will doubtless know that the best linen cloth is weaved in one of two places: Ireland or northern Italy. Irish linen is often densely woven, chalky in the hand and surprisingly heavy for a warm-weather material, tho

“No one loathed the idea of getting old more than Dorian, so he wanted to experience everything, constantly reflecting on questions of morality and sin. His biggest wish was that his portrait would age instead of himself.” The stories humans tell eac

special thanks to Corinthia London Over the past year, like everyone reading this, I’ve done a lot of imagining. I have imagined the places I’ll visit and the friends I’ll hug and share laughter and meals with. When I think about these things happeni

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In the final weeks of 2011, obituarists abruptly found themselves caught up in a pre-Christmas rush: two billionaires had died within two days of each other. There was no shortage of archive material on the first: Steve Jobs, the roll-necked, dad-jea

I kept Bob Odenkirk waiting for our interview. That isn’t to say I was late — more that he was early, disarmingly so. My father raised his sons to believe that being on time is late and five minutes early is on time, so I logged on accordingly. There