They say ‘don’t look down’, but when it came to finding a gap in the men’s style segment, that’s exactly what Richard Wheat did.
If you work in the City – as Wheat did for many years – you’ll wear your suit jacket to the office, but it won’t be long before it’s rapidly demoted to the back of your chair. Your trousers on the other hand? They’re going nowhere. (We hope.)
Although jackets may receive more airtime and column inches, it’s the trouser that is your constant companion – and something Kit Blake has been perfecting since 2018.
Richard Wheat, Co-founder of Kit Blake
SM: Talk us through the genesis of Kit Blake?
RW: It was simple really: I was tired of the trouser being treated like a poor relation in a man's wardrobe.
Badly fitted jeans, uncomfortably skinny chinos or cheap looking trousers to a suit. It was a segment I felt was ripe for innovation so I got a guy out of Savile Row and we began working on creating a series of sartorial trousers, with deep front facing pleats to well fitted flat front, finding a world-class maker in Puglia, Italy, while sourcing some incredible fabrics from Northern Italy & the UK to make the trouser the star of the outfit.
I’d worked in the city for many years and at 6ft 6in I always wore tailoring to the office but that can get very expensive. I'd naturally evolved wearing more separates as opposed to a suit but when I wanted more variety in the trousers the offering was really limited – unless bespoke.
So we created a well priced ready-to-wear trouser to bridge that gap between high quality tailored trousers and the bespoke businesses on Savile Row.
I have always been passionate about the sector in general and I realised that there were a number of brands that made suits, shirts or ties and accessories, but not many if any in the UK that really focused on high-quality tailored trousers.
As our formal offering developed I then wanted to expand the collection to offer trousers that I could wear out of the office and at weekends; so cottons, linens and seersucker were added.
SM: What makes the perfect trouser?
RW: At Kit Blake we pride ourselves on trousers made from the finest cloth (wool, cotton and linen), with a high rise, and side adjusters. The majority of our trousers also have pleats as we find that these are quite flattering and add something a bit more visually interesting to a tailored trouser, compared to the more common flat front trouser (through we also have a style without pleats to ensure we can accommodate more clients).
SM: Where do you source your materials from?
RW: Mainly from wool mills in Biella, Italy, though we do work also with some mills in Somerset and Huddersfield for our heavier wools and our fresco wool for travel.
Cottons are a mix between British and Italian mills, while our linens are from Northern Ireland.
SM: And where are your trousers made?
RW: In Puglia, on the south eastern tip of Italy.
SM: Kit Blake has always been a champion of flannel. Why are you such a proponent?
RW: Flannel as a suit is beautiful, but isn’t for everyone. Whereas we find flannel trousers to be a perfect complement to a tailored jacket, that in the UK can work for six-to-nine months of the year. They drape beautifully and look more visually interesting than a traditional plain worsted wool cloth, in our opinion.
SM: All your model photos have turn-ups; you’re clearly a fan of this style, too?
RW: Turn-ups or ‘cuffs’ are part of our house style, as we believe they pair nicely with the high waist, side adjusters and pleats of our trousers. But they are optional for the client as all our trousers deliberately come unfinished, meaning the client can take them to be altered to their desired length and to have them with a turn-up or a normal trouser finish.
SM: Why are side-adjusters a constant in Kit Blake’s designs?
RW: Side-adjusters are a design feature normally found in bespoke trousers. We incorporated these into our Kit Blake trousers as they allow for a cleaner symmetry between the jacket and trouser, not broken by a belt. They also help on a practical basis, especially when travelling, as it means you don’t have to pack a belt so it’s one less thing to worry about.
SM: Are you happy that the wider fashion world has moved away from the skinny silhouette?
RW: Our preference has always been for a classic fit. Classic doesn’t always mean wide, but it does mean proportionate to the wearer, their footwear, the lapel of their jacket etc. So yes, while we aren’t supportive of extremes in menswear (be it wide or narrow), we do believe that more classically or generously proportioned clothes are more flattering to more men. Skinnier styles really only work for those that are very young and/or very thin.
SM: Have you seen a shift in ordering patterns / choices since the pandemic?
RW: Without doubt it’s clear that clients are wearing less suits (a matching jacket and trouser) and less ties (outside of specific occupational industries such as law or parts of finance, and occasions such as weddings). For Kit Blake, we’ve arguably been a beneficiary of this shift as far more men now appreciate the virtues of being able to still dress in tailored clothing, but in a slightly more approachable way with a pair of tailored trousers and a tailored jacket in a different cloth, or paired with a casual jacket or knitwear.
In terms of cloth, generally clients are more adventurous in the cloth in a jacket or a suit, than the trousers, but we have recently introduced some Prince of Wales checks and pinstripes and they’ve been surprisingly well received, showing there is a market for the client that wants to show some character through their trousers.
SM: Which are your best sellers?
RW: In the cooler months, flannel without doubt, in a range of shades of grey from dark charcoal through to light grey. In the warmer months, historically it had been linens and cottons but more recently we’re seeing a return to a higher level of formality, so our lightweight wool fresco trousers have been selling very well.
SM: Can you give us the potted highlights of the new AW24 collection?
RW: For Autumn, we’ve introduced a wider range of classic grey flannels that will work for most clients, but some interesting other highlights would also be the dark green flannel, the beige cotton twill and the navy chalk-stripe wool flannel trousers.
For Winter, we have some additional trousers arriving with more shades of wool flannel, then some interesting corduroy options and also some beautiful heavier weight wool cloth from Fox Flannel in Somerset.
SM: You’ve recently moved into shorts – do you have any further expansion plans?
RW: From an overall category point of view, we are focused on staying within the trousers category (including shorts within that). We aren’t looking to become a ‘full wardrobe’ brand selling shirts, knitwear, shoes etc as we believe there is an enormous opportunity in the trouser market.
In saying that, we are continuing to introduce new trousers, with two upcoming styles being a slimmer version of our single pleat trouser, and an updated version of our previous casual cotton chino.
SM: You’re only allowed to wear one pair of trousers for the rest of your life – what would you choose?
RW: Depends on the location and the weather. If London or the UK, you can’t go wrong with a classic pair of grey flannels. If somewhere warmer then grey or navy wool fresco trousers, or for a more casual option, a pair of navy cotton trousers.
See more at kitblake.com
