A menswear brand to know: Stefan Cooke
Stefan Cooke: a selection of new looks from the Spring-Summer 2021 collection
London-based Stefan Cooke is jettisoning the rules of men’s luxury fashion in favour of an experimental approach to textiles with unusual fabric manipulations, optical illusions, and clever construction.
The garments look familiar but close inspection reveals subverted details: Argyle-print crew neck knits are slashed; jeans are stitched together from strips of elastic and printed with an image of denim; tailoring features angular cuts, to give the impression of a narrow waist. The mundane is transformed into something wonderful.
Launched by the eponymous Cooke and his partner, Jake Burt, in 2018, the two have become known for their affinity for deadstock and fabrics with a synthetic feel. Their job as designers, they said, is to elevate those. Fabric manipulations are a cornerstone of the brand — something Burt said was borne out of financial circumstances.
“We didn’t have any money, nothing between us. We had to change the value of the things we had available to us so we had to just find the cheapest thing and find a way to make that interesting, desirable, and fashionable,” he said over Zoom in February from their London studio.
In 2019, they made headlines for their €400 ‘paper bags’ printed with vintage handbags on them. The bags were made from biodegradable natural fibres which gave a paper-like feel to them. Cooke said the project came about because they couldn’t afford to work with a leather specialist.
That resourcefulness continued for the first few seasons as the two established a footing in an increasingly overcrowded pool of emerging talent. Early supporters included Dover Street Market and Matchesfashion.com permitted them to explore more luxurious fabrics while continuing to work on permutations of more inexpensive things.
Cooke said experimentation is “the essence of everything we do". Cooke, who studied menswear and textiles, begins with a trial and error approach that results in creating garments with unexpected fabrics. Some of these permutations will make the runway. Burt, whose background is in womenswear, is responsible for the classical construction of garments.
Silhouette is a defining feature in menswear but textiles are how one can rewrite the rules of tradition. “It’s enjoyable to work with things that maybe nobody else will look at and change them in a way to make something new so that they still become a luxury product at the end of the day.” The brand has recently started working with an Italian woollen mill to produce coats, imbuing the brand’s personality into the traditional craft by picking an ersatz-looking fabric or implementing their singular use of nostalgia-tinged colour.
“It’s good that people can go into shops now and there’s an amazing coat rather than me having to figure out some crazy way to do it,” said Cooke.
“The argument for your collection has to be so convincing for men to buy it. It has to remain classic in almost every element apart from the one thing you change, and even that has to be done quite effortlessly,” said Burt.
“It's so exciting to see a brand that shies away from hype to focus on innovation to produce a completely unique vision within menswear,” said Damien Paul, head of menswear at Matchesfashion.com. The online retailer said the duo’s autumn/winter 2020 collection performed “phenomenally well” with the knitwear being the hero item.
Another brand hallmark is the narrow silhouette which poses a sharp contrast to much of the relaxed proportions that fashion is currently awash with. They’re influenced by growing up wearing skinny jeans from Topman and Primark, but also the musicians they liked, a period of music iconography that coincided with the genesis of skinny tailoring.
The pair are aware of how prohibitive the style can be. Burt admits he doesn’t wear the brand’s slim tailoring. However, last season they added relaxed cotton trousers with an elasticated waist, indicating their desire to explore other avenues to encompass more men.
Cooke, 30, met Burt, 31, in London at a party. Soon after, they became boyfriends. The pair studied at the vaunted Central Saint Martins. Not long after Cooke started the label, he joined forces with Burt to start his namesake label. In less than two years, they were listed as finalists for the LVMH Prize, an award that provides finance and mentorship for emerging talents. Last year, Gucci invited them to participate in GucciFEST, their weeklong project that incorporated a coterie of young talent.
Over time, accessories emerged as a boon for the brand. However, they are not just a means to an end, though the launch of bag straps became a vital selling point for the brand, especially during the pandemic which has plunged the future of many young designers further into the depths of uncertainty.
“We’re not making these accessories to fit into certain categories to sell — if we don’t want to do something we won’t do it,” said Cooke.
For both of them, it was essential to create something substantial taking into account the fact they were once teenagers who wanted to enter the fashion industry and accessories were the most accessible conduit for that. “It’s important to buy something that has the complete brand within it,” said Cooke.
Cooke and Burt are currently working on their autumn/winter 2021 collection. Expect serious silhouettes alongside some playful accessories. Ordinarily, the collection would have been presented at London Fashion Week Men’s in January. In light of the pandemic, they operate on a less strict schedule which facilitates more time for creativity and design.
Cooke said: "At the end of the day, it’s about creating a great piece of clothing. We feel there’s no point in it if it can’t be segued into real life.”
Stefan Cooke is available at Matchesfashion.com
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