RUFF LIFE: Huntsman, the traditional Savile Row tailor catapulted onto the big screen in last year’s hit spy movie “Kingsman,” threw a cocktail on Saturday evening with The Gentleman’s Journal.
The event featured a jazz performance by a string quartet and a tongue-in-cheek short film titled “A Bespoke Suit: From Head to Tail,” produced in association with the magazine and starring Mungo, its fashion editor Holly Macnaghten’s dachshund. The Huntsman team created a bespoke tuxedo jacket in canine proportions — hand-stitched buttonholes and all.
The idea was conceived to counteract a perception that the fashion industry takes itself too seriously, according to Macnaghten.
“Mungo has been great as a model,” laughed Huntsman chief executive officer Philippe Brenninkmeijer.
For once, other male models in attendance like David Gandy, Oliver Cheshire and Robert Konjic and Sam Way had to take a back seat.
But the British love of dogs is second only to their love of football so the screening had to wait until half-time in the England vs. Russia match.
It was thanks to the exposure generated by the “Kingsman” movie that the label opened a showroom last year on New York’s 57th Street, said creative director Campbell Carey, who added that the next step will hopefully be a store in Shanghai. There’s also a “Kingsman” sequel scheduled for release next summer.