Just some more of the latest additions to the Sunspel Selects range

Sunspel (http://www.sunspel.com/us) has long been known for its outward focus, as embedded in the company from the start by Thomas Hill, and which initially manifested in the importing of the world's finest grade of cotton for the production of the most comfortable and durable underwear in its native United Kingdom. In much more recent times, the famed British menswear specialist has collaborated with seemingly every designer, company and institution with which it shares values, from Margaret Howell to James Bond.

Well, there's now another obvious place for admirers of Sunspel's quality mens clothing to look for items with a similar commitment to Modern Everyday Luxury. That place is Sunspel's own Sunspel Selects range, a hand-picked assortment of products from suitably empathetic manufacturers and brands. Its items can be seen not just online, but also in Sunspel's London stores.

Such formal collaborations might not mark a brand's first association with Sunspel. Cutler and Gross, for example, has long enjoyed a reputation as one of the world's finest eyewear brands, making it unsurprising that its beautiful sunglasses have already been stocked in Sunspel stores for years. But on deeper appreciation of the company's obsession with the most impeccable craftsmanship, Sunspel just had to make the link official. The result is the release of Cutler and Gross' classic 1009 style in a choice of two colors, helping to make them en even better complement to Sunspel's mens designer clothes.

Also represented in the current Sunspel Selects portfolio are uniquely stylish wallets, card holders and notebooks, courtesy of the Japanese craftsmen of Postalco. This time, it was Sunspel's well-established Far East links that inspired more formal collaboration, encouraged further by Postalco's subscription to the highest standards of quality and presentation that again drew comparisons with a certain British manufacturer's luxury mens clothing. The shared love of detail and craftsmanship of the respective design teams at Sunspel and Postalco is more than apparent in the resultant handcrafted accessories.

Another link-up for the Sunspel Selects range that will more than interest the discerning admirers of the Nottingham company's luxury basics is that with another undoubted British institution of the last few centuries, D.R. Harris - one of London's oldest pharmacies, having been established on St James's Street since 1790. Sunspel really couldn't resist picking out a few of its favorites from a refined selection of skincare products and soaps of the Royal Warrant holder as chemist to both the Queen and the Prince of Wales. They include a fresh, complex aftershave and a luxurious almond-scented hand lotion.

With other likeminded collaborators in the current Sunspel Selects range including the legendary shoemaker Joseph Cheaney & Sons, with its lovingly crafted Chelsea boots, as well as one of the longest-established hatters in England, Lock & Co, which offers a waterproof and versatile reversible hat, those who have long loved the quality clothing of Sunspel (http://www.sunspel.com/us) are sure to find little to disappoint them about the similarly fastidiously-conceived Sunspel Selects.

Editor’s Note: Sunspel US (http://www.sunspel.com/us) are represented by the search engine advertising and digital marketing specialists Jumping Spider Media. Email: info@jumpingspidermedia.co.uk or call: +44 (0)20 3070 1959 / +34 952 783 637.

How Sunspel pays tribute to its Nottingham origins

In the year 2013, Sunspel (http://www.sunspel.com) heritage clothing remains a prominent fixture of the world’s finest stores and boutiques. It continues to expand its product offering, too, having introduced a womenswear range, collaborated with talented young designers on new launches and opened new stores of its own. But it’s easy to forget that the modern company would never have come to be without a little bit of Nottinghamshire inspiration and perspiration.

After all, it was Nottingham where the company that would become known as Sunspel was founded in 1860, by Thomas A Hill. The man who would begin an entire Hill dynasty had already accumulated significant expertise in British clothing as the chief Nottingham partner in I&R Morley, the then British market leader in quality knitwear, hosiery and underwear. With his passion for textile innovation, Thomas was already an active member of National Association for the Promotion of Technical and Commercial Education, and had been a major figure behind the decision of I&R Morley to pledge an annual subscription to fund a local technical school.

With Nottingham in the mid-19^th century heaving with industrial activity, it made sense for Hill to base his new company there, and he soon opened a factory in Newdigate. There, he had a 500-strong team working wonders with the premium Lisle cotton in the creation of the smooth, strong and high quality clothing that would earn the firm its reputation. As the decades passed, items including singlets, undershirts and tunics would be increasingly exported across the world. By the early 20^th century, the factory had been relocated to Long Eaton elsewhere in Nottingham, where it remains today, also serving as Sunspel’s head office.

There, as was the case back then, Sunspel continues to make and design new designer menswear and womenswear, making the most of long-standing and hard-won design and fabric engineering expertise. It was on the traditional lace making machines of Long Eaton, after all, that the company’s Quality 14 unique Cellular Fabric was developed in the 1930s. Local lace industry expertise also informed the development of the Quality 75 warp knit cotton fabric that was invented by Peter Hill, the grandson of the founder who wanted a lighter replacement for the relatively heavy weight pique cottons popular in 1950s ‘sports’ polo shirts. This was the fabric used in the Riviera polo shirts worn by Daniel Craig in several recent James Bond films.

Nottingham has long been at the centre of innovations like these, and the city’s instrumental role in the history of Sunspel (http://www.sunspel.com) has been referenced in some of its latest quality mens clothing. Crew neck T-shirts in the Spring Summer ’13 collection, for example, include printed graphics such as a hand-drawn reinterpretation of a 1960s letterhead used by a travel agent right here in Long Eaton, as well as a dog head in tribute to Bill, a much-loved canine resident of the factory in the 1930s – all showing that Sunspel could hardly forget its Nottingham past or present.

Editor’s Note: Sunspel (http://www.sunspel.com) are represented by the search engine advertising and digital marketing specialists Jumping Spider Media. Email: info@jumpingspidermedia.co.uk or call: +44 (0)20 3070 1959 / +34 952 783 637.

What's in a name?

Anyone with a basic familiarity with the history of the celebrated Sunspel (http://www.sunspel.com) name will know that, rather than referring to the entire company that has been operating since 1860, the term was once simply used for its number one underwear brand. Indeed, the original company was known at first by the name of its founder, Thomas Hill. The firm's present name, though, is somehow befitting, given its dramatic impact over the years on the way in which underwear is made and sold across the planet.

The Hill name remained a familiar one throughout the company's initial century or so of operation, given the passage of control through a succession of descendants. But the original Thomas Hill was a man who had become the chief Nottingham partner in I&R Morley - the then-market leader in Britain for quality clothing ranging from knitwear to underwear and hosiery - by his thirties. Passionate about textile innovation and sensing the need for a new challenge, he boldly set up his own company so that he could pursue his dream of bringing quality over quantity to an ever-greater audience.  

The fledgling company didn't take long to establish a formidable reputation for the creation of exceptional British clothing from supremely soft and lightweight fabrics. Hill himself built a reputation as an underwear pioneer, with his experiments centred on making his firm's clothing as comfortable as possible to wear close to the body. These are principles that still stand Sunspel in good stead today, and which were perpetuated across the world, well into the new century, by successive Hills.

At some point, though, the company underwent its first name change, becoming Sea Island Textiles Ltd - a reference to the Gossypium Barbadense plant that originates from South America and has been grown in the West Indies since the 15th century. In 1786, it began to be planted on the sea islands of South Carolina, and the spectacular quality that was achieved soon made it a mainstay of the British aristocracy. It was used for Queen Victoria's handkerchiefs, for example. Sunspel has its own strong history with Sea Island cotton, having used it for its earliest garments in Quality 14 Cellular Fabric in the 1930s.

By 1937, with the business moving from Nottingham to Long Eaton, it was decided that the company would also be given a new name, adopting that of its most successful underwear brand made from some of the most exclusive Sea Island cotton. That name was Sunspel, and the term remains to this day synonymous with timelessly stylish, unfussy and highly wearable heritage clothing, encompassing not only underwear but also T-shirts, polo shirts, knitwear, trousers, sweats, sleepwear and more.

Sea Island Cotton, meanwhile, remains one of Sunspel's (http://www.sunspel.com) most sought-after brands of quality mens clothing, demonstrating the company's successful incorporation of its past expertise into a product range that remains absolutely relevant to life in 2013.

Editor’s Note: Sunspel (http://www.sunspel.com) are represented by the search engine advertising and digital marketing specialists Jumping Spider Media. Email: info@jumpingspidermedia.co.uk or call: +44 (0)20 3070 1959 / +34 952 783 637.

The changes wrought on Sunspel by the 20th century

The 20^th century: a time of drastic social, political and cultural change, an epoch that witnessed the dissolution of empires, two World Wars, the rise and fall of Communism, the formation of the United Nations and not a little alteration to the situations of women and minorities across the world. It was this tumultuous landscape into which the British clothing company now known as Sunspel (http://www.sunspel.com) entered on a wave of Victorian pioneering fervour, with such influences firmly leaving their mark on the modern-day brand.

By 1900, the firm that had been founded as Thomas Hill Ltd in Nottingham had already been trading for some four decades, in which time its Newdigate factory began to make luxury hosiery made from exceptionally soft and lightweight fabrics. The firm had been established to make comfortable and durable underwear with cotton of the finest grade, imported from around the world. The company’s spirit reflected an emerging appetite for international exploration, with the result being the best quality clothing for wearing close to the skin.

This outward perspective certainly informed the son of ‘Old Thom’, Thomas Arthur Hill, who having significantly progressed the company’s reputation in the development of lisle cotton singlets, tunics and undershirts and women and childrens’ underwear, pinpointed the Far East as a key future market. Sure enough, it wasn’t long before undergarments bearing complicated embroidery and the Thomas Hill name surfaced in China, India and Malaya. A name change to Sea Island Textiles Ltd eventually followed, along with a move from the old site to Long Eaton – where the company, now bearing the Sunspel name that it adopted at the end of the thirties, maintains a presence today.

The name Sunspel was taken from the company’s best-selling brand of underwear, and it was this side of its offering that was to attract particular notoriety as the new century progressed – but not before the struggle. The firm had already played its part in drastically changing perceptions of women in the workplace as they replaced the conscripted men during the First World War. Fast-forward to the times of austerity post-World War II and Sunspel was once again focussing on supplying the home market with the finest quality fabrics and products.

Gradually, Sunspel began to attract attention for a distinct combination of style and innovation, marked by the development of cellulock fabric and the appearance of its quality mens clothing in the world’s finest stores and boutiques. At this time, the company was also supplying various issue undergarments to the RAF, and it was its mens underwear that was powering the company’s popularity again when Nick Kamen made his famous appearance in Sunspel boxer shorts in the Levi’s Launderette advertisement of 1985. This soon drew a host of other iconic brands and designers to Sunspel.

The 20^th century may go on record as one of the most momentous and revolutionary in human history – and Sunspel (http://www.sunspel.com) was there from start to finish with luxurious heritage clothing that continually redefined the breed.

Editor’s Note: Sunspel (http://www.sunspel.com) is represented by the search engine advertising and digital marketing specialists Jumping Spider Media. Please direct all press queries to Louise Byrne. Email: louise@jumpingspidermedia.co.uk or call: +44 (0)20 3070 1959 / +34 952 783 637.

Sunspel’s trousers, and their military and workwear inspiration

If many people around at the world at all associate the Sunspel (http://www.sunspel.com/us) brand with trousers, it may not be the company’s own trousers that immediately come to mind, but instead those that Nick Kamen peeled off in the memorable Levi’s Launderette advert of 1985, revealing a princely pair of Sunspel boxer shorts. Of course, such a state of affairs has everything to do with what was an immensely iconic advertising campaign, and little to do with the fact that Sunspel has a highly creditable trousers range of its own amongst the rest of its heritage clothing.

As a matter of fact, up until the airing of that advert, Sunspel was largely known for its supply of various issue undergarments to the RAF, and was still developing its reputation as a provider of luxury clothing for the world’s most prestigious boutiques. However, the brand was definitely attracting acclaim for its well-made mens underwear, and when the Levi’s Launderette advert was screened before European audiences, its celebration of the American Dream – mixed with not a small amount of canny nostalgia – certainly struck a chord.

It is in tribute to that commercial’s role in powering Sunspel’s British clothing to new heights of popularity that the company’s online store stocks Levi’s revival of its 1947 501 jean. There is no more quintessential 5-pocket jean, and the 14oz selvedge denims have been reissued in the 1947 style, albeit redesigned so that materials unavailable during the war years could be incorporated. The denim itself is woven by the Cone Mills of Northern Carolina, while the jeans have also been pre-washed to avoid washing-related shrinkage. Being highly wearable, these jeans are the perfect match to a range of Sunspel items, such as the Short Sleeve Crew Neck T-Shirt.

Meanwhile, the Sunspel collection of mens clothing online also includes timeless-looking cotton drill chinos in stone and navy. Crafted from soft and durable 100% cotton twill, these trousers also bear no shortage of military and workwear inspiration. The classic 5-pocket design of the Chino instantly marks it out as Sunspel, while the British company is also committed to the continual refinement of even the smallest aspects of design and fit. This is reflected in the fact that the most recent season’s Chinos are slimmer through the leg than previously, while also sitting slightly lower on the waist.

Also incorporating two side and back pockets, a small coin pocket and a zip fly and button fastening, these Chinos represent yet more of the fastidious attention to detail and unwavering fabric innovation that has won Sunspel’s (http://www.sunspel.com/us) quality mens clothing a legion of admirers since the firm’s establishment with those principles more than a century and a half ago.

Editor’s Note: Sunspel US (http://www.sunspel.com/us) is represented by the search engine advertising and digital marketing specialists Jumping Spider Media. Please direct all press queries to Louise Byrne. Email: louise@jumpingspidermedia.co.uk or call: +44 (0)20 3070 1959 / +34 952 783 637.

Sunspel's truly worldwide reach

The Sunspel (http://www.sunspel.com/us) story begins in the English city of Nottingham of the founder, Thomas A Hill, after whom the British clothing company was once named. However, this was in the 1860s, a time of pioneering Victorian entrepreneurial and industrial zeal and in a century when the British Empire was very much at its peak. Sure enough, Hill and his descendants quickly made use of these advantageous conditions in the development of a clothing dynasty on which the sun has never set.

Today, Sunspel enjoys a not insignificant international reach, with its development of a dedicated US website for its quality mens clothing being just one event to demonstrate this. Nor has the firm ever truly lacked a global outlook, as from the very start, it depended on imported cotton of the highest order in its creation of durable and comfortable underwear for the British market. That cotton was soft, lightweight Egyptian cotton, which having been crafted into the finest undergarments, was eventually exported across the planet.

As the first few decades of the existence of Thomas Hill Ltd passed, revolutions in education and travel increasingly left even the most humble Victorian civilian curious about the most far-flung corners of the world. The infant company of 'Old Thom' certainly played to this curiosity, designing clothing that could be comfortably worn close to the body to aid the burgeoning spirit of international exploration. His son, Thomas Arthur Hill, was to be particularly instrumental in making the most of the Far East market that emerged as the 19th century became the 20th.

These new export markets included China, India and Malaya, with complicated embroidery being used to distinguish Sunspel's quality clothing from the increasing competition of other incoming firms. Although such lucrative overseas opportunities were to wane later in the new century, Sunspel was continuing to make its influence felt on the world stage, donating uniform items and underwear to troops and medical services during both World Wars. The company's association with the military only increased at the conclusion of hostilities, as the late 1950s saw it beginning to supply the RAF with issue undergarments.

However, it was by the middle of the 20th century that the company, which finally adopted its present moniker in the late 1930s, was in many ways reaffirming its role as a supplier of the finest heritage clothing for civilians. Sunspel clothing became increasingly synonymous with the most prestigious international fashion stores and boutiques, with the Long Eaton factory in which the firm still operates backing up a long-standing reputation for fabric innovation in its development of cellulock fabric.

By the time Nick Kamen arrived in his crisp pair of white Sunspel boxers in an effortlessly iconic Levi's Launderette advert that aired throughout Europe in the 1980s, the reputation of Sunspel's (http://www.sunspel.com/us) luxury clothing was already assured - in its native Britain and in the eyes of admirers across the world.   

Editor’s Note: Sunspel US (http://www.sunspel.com/us) is represented by the search engine advertising and digital marketing specialists Jumping Spider Media. Please direct all press queries to Louise Byrne. Email: louise@jumpingspidermedia.co.uk or call: +44 (0)20 3070 1959 / +34 952 783 637.