Style counsel: Paul Weller for Sunspel

The best-selling musician and style icon has taken a hands-on approach to his inaugural capsule collection for the British heritage clothing company

Style 25 Mar 2021

It’s no mean feat to maintain a distinguishable and consistently dapper style over five decades, but Paul Weller makes it all look easy.

Long before the era of the Instagram Influencer, the Modfather was inspiring flocks of dedicated followers of fashion to invest in psychedelic shirts, cosy knits, slinky scarves and sharp-as-a-tack suits. As much as his influence on the British music scene is undeniable — first with The Jam in the 1970s, then as one half of The Style Council and, finally, as a successful solo artist — Weller’s image and sartorial choices have been just as prestigious.

It’s no surprise that fashion brands have been clamouring for Weller’s attention for decades. After various hit-and-miss collaborations and dabbling in fashion design, this year sees the launch of a ‘very personal’ capsule collection designed by Weller for Sunspel. The British clothing brand has been making ‘everyday luxury essentials’ since 1860, with an emphasis on fine craftsmanship, premium fabrics and a minimalist aesthetic and colour palette. Weller was already a Sunspel fan, purchasing ‘their stuff a lot over the years,’ as he told British GQ, so ‘in the end it all made sense.’

After paying a visit to the Sunspel factory in Long Eaton, Weller took a hands-on approach to his eponymous collection, sketching designs, selecting fabrics and reinventing the brand’s retro sun and clouds logo. The newly launched collection features comfortable staples, including cotton twill trousers, lightweight macs and classic polos and T-shirts that epitomise Sunspel’s signature silhouettes with a subtle Mod twist (no targets or Union Jacks in sight).

Weller commented: ‘The pieces are well crafted, well cut clothes that people will look good in. As they are such good quality, they’ll also last!’

The Paul Weller for Sunspel collection is available now at sunspel.com