The unofficial Drake's London Appreciation Thread

[NassimBandini]

Locations, staff, travels and some imperfections of the doing business- all these makes Drake's that we love.
Otherwise it would be an another LVMH-like brand without soul

Mind you, I am not complaining. Only about size charts which is really a lack of respect for their customers and nothing else. I live in Europe and sending back parcels to the UK is often a pain **********.

 

[Matt_Nash]

Same complaints for five years. Prices keep going up, quality keeps going down. Baz, Rich, and Donny are going on a trip to the Shetland Isles next year to personally inspect a 100-year-old grain silo. It’ll feature in the new Drake’s look book, so stay tuned. Oh, by the way, the team needs to bump up the prices of the new St. John’s ankle bracelets by 130%. First class flights aren’t cheap. You guys are loyal, you get it.

 

[Berto1]

Drake's prices are above what common sense dictates, to be honest I think at some point they are gonna loose a piece of market because there's a increasingly huge gap between price and value.

Perhaps, i think it's interesting to buy some unique pieces (overpriced but really unique). On more general clothing, the pricing it's ridiculous (for instance Rugby shirts, games jackets, ....).

 

[nachobarro]

Drake's prices are above what common sense dictates, to be honest I think at some point they are gonna loose a piece of market because there's a increasingly huge gap between price and value.

Perhaps, i think it's interesting to buy some unique pieces (overpriced but really unique). On more general clothing, the pricing it's ridiculous (for instance Rugby shirts, games jackets, ....).

I agree, but I consider Games tailoring to be quite unique. I would love to find cheaper alternatives, but there aren't.

Rugbys, Shirts, Shetlands are not worth it imho.

 

[45bur]

Exactly. It's not sticker shock. I don't think anyone on this forum minds spending money, haha. It's the value gap

 

[Berto1]

I agree, but I consider Games tailoring to be quite unique. love to find cheaper alternatives, but there aren't.

Rugbys, Shirts, Shetlands are not worth it imho.

I think you can get better quality (excepcional italian Wool) taylor made by half de price in Madrid.

 

[Socks_mtg]

I agree, but I consider Games tailoring to be quite unique. I would love to find cheaper alternatives, but there aren't.

Rugbys, Shirts, Shetlands are not worth it imho.

Nail on the head - games tailoring is unique.

I feel they’re nearing the tipping point, but until the customer can’t bear it, and they’re left with stock to dump, they’ll keep rising

 

[Socks_mtg]

I think you can get better quality (excepcional italian Wool) taylor made by half de price in Madrid.

View attachment 2328211

That may be - but you have to wait 6+ weeks for your tailor to make it. Your RTW is with you in a day or 2

 

[Treble]

All this moaning about staff travel is naive.

They are probably saving money by not paying models, visits to suppliers and their other shops and pop-ups (need to do these anyway) creating editorial / advertising, and a lot of the restaurant trips are things many medium sized businesses do to look after their staff. The shop people will get paid very modest wages and this is a nice perk. They aren't taking the website developers from the office or seamstresses.

 

[slows2k]

One thing the travel stuff does well is exhibit the clothing in motion, so to speak, in an informal and varied environment. Its far more helpful to see the staff modeling clothing than it is so many luxury brands which just do this:

Drake's - Brown Prince Of Wales Check Harris Tweed Games Mk. VII Blazer

Virgin wool tweed blazer. Prince of Wales pattern throughout.

www.ssense.com

https://www.nordstrom.com/s/mk-vii-shetland-wool-tweed-blazer/7903121?origin=category-personalizedsort&breadcrumb=Home%2FBrands%2FDrake%27s&color=930

Drake's is too expensive, they have been for years now. It prices me out of being able to buy more than a couple pieces per year. There was a time when I hoped that once my career developed a little further I could source most of my clothing from Drakes, but their pricing now prohibits that, and that is disappointing. However, the pieces I do save for and pick up are exactly what I want them to be every time, and sometimes thats worth paying some extra for. The cuts, colors, and how everything works cohesively together are done better than anyone else I have found, IMO.

 

[Kid_Icarus]

One thing the travel stuff does well is exhibit the clothing in motion, so to speak, in an informal and varied environment. Its far more helpful to see the staff modeling clothing than it is so many luxury brands which just do this:

Drake's - Brown Prince Of Wales Check Harris Tweed Games Mk. VII Blazer

Virgin wool tweed blazer. Prince of Wales pattern throughout.

www.ssense.com

https://www.nordstrom.com/s/mk-vii-shetland-wool-tweed-blazer/7903121?origin=category-personalizedsort&breadcrumb=Home%2FBrands%2FDrake%27s&color=930

Drake's is too expensive, they have been for years now. It prices me out of being able to buy more than a couple pieces per year. There was a time when I hoped that once my career developed a little further I could source most of my clothing from Drakes, but their pricing now prohibits that, and that is disappointing. However, the pieces I do save for and pick up are exactly what I want them to be every time, and sometimes thats worth paying some extra for. The cuts, colors, and how everything works cohesively together are done better than anyone else I have found, IMO.

Exactly. This, together with the earlier comment about the uniqueness of the Games tailoring, speaks to a larger point: a significant part of the value of the Drake's offering is in the design itself. Like other well-designed products, this is an intangible value, but a significant one that justly commands a premium. Not just anyone could design these clothes, and combine them in this way.

To me the difference between buying an item from Drake's vs. something comparable from a less expensive source often comes down to the design details: the choice of color, cloth, pattern, scale and hardware, the proportions and cut, etc. I will happily pay extra for their execution and point of view. Likewise the styling and sourcing: they put a lot of thought and effort into their editorial content and the result is a cohesive aesthetic that is now widely copied.

The talent and vision of those at the helm of the brand has inherent value.

 

[slows2k]

Hi. I like the Crosby shoes but do not want to pay over £300 for a pair of casual shoes. I understand Astorflex and Varesca do very similar models - the Dukeflex and Flizzon, respectively. The key for me for the look is the toebox. Anyone have any thoughts on which is the most similar to the Crosby, as it would be nice to save a bit of money and maybe use the rest to be a tie.

The Astorflex dukeflex is pretty much the exact same boot, minus the heel stitching. It has the flatter toe box of the Drakes model. They are essentially the same as their popular greenflex model, but with less structure in the toe like the Crosby. Highly recommend astorflex, esp at the price point, for the Drakes look without the absurd markup on suede desert boots.

 

[Terrakott]

Exactly. This, together with the earlier comment about the uniqueness of the Games tailoring, speaks to a larger point: a significant part of the value of the Drake's offering is in the design itself. Like other well-designed products, this is an intangible value, but a significant one that justly commands a premium. Not just anyone could design these clothes, and combine them in this way.

To me the difference between buying an item from Drake's vs. something comparable from a less expensive source often comes down to the design details: the choice of color, cloth, pattern, scale and hardware, the proportions and cut, etc. I will happily pay extra for their execution and point of view. Likewise the styling and sourcing: they put a lot of thought and effort into their editorial content and the result is a cohesive aesthetic that is now widely copied.

The talent and vision of those at the helm of the brand has inherent value.

Your point echoing to the Simon Crompton article, which says: products cost is not only materials, manufacturing and stores. The big part of it are R&D, vision and philosophy of the brand, risk of failures and continuous attempts.

Permanent Style

Should you buy a copy? What’s the harm?

www.permanentstyle.com

 

[PurplePolo]

Your point echoing to the Simon Crompton article, which says: products cost is not only materials, manufacturing and stores. The big part of it are R&D, vision and philosophy of the brand, risk of failures and continuous attempts.

Permanent Style

Should you buy a copy? What’s the harm?

www.permanentstyle.com

The difference with most Drake’s items, however, is you could argue that Drake’s is copying other brands and using their label to make it seem like they are the original product, i.e. their shawl collar or desert boots.

Tbh the only legitimate reason to buy something from Drake’s, or any brand for that matter, is how it makes you feel.

I personally would never buy something from a brand primarily to support their creative direction or how they curate their selection. They need to legitimately need to offer me something that makes it the best at it’s price point, i.e. gives me the most joy to wear.

 

[pireyesa]

I think you can get better quality (excepcional italian Wool) taylor made by half de price in Madrid.

View attachment 2328211

That looks good, do you have any recommendations for something like this in Madrid?