Luxury menswear label E Tautz is celebrating its 150th anniversary in style, with a playful photography exhibition at its Mayfair flagship.
Honouring the label’s diverse array of collaborators, director Patrick Grant invited a host of E Tautz alum to donate a photograph to the show. Actors, musicians, designers and authors fill the multifaceted list, and scores of big names jump out: artist Cerith Wyn Evans, photographer Martin Parr, fashion’s Roksanda Illincic and Christopher Kane, to name a few. It’s not confined to stars of the art world however. We’re intrigued to see how the photographic efforts of David Walliams and Claudia Winkleman pan out.
Exactly which image belongs to which collaborator is being kept under Grant’s (perfectly millinered) hat. Each photo will be sold for £150 during the month-long exhibition, with the photographer’s identity hidden until the point of sale. All proceeds will go to the charity Help Refugees.
Grant, who has been at the helm of E Tautz since 2009, wants the exhibition to recognise the many ‘intelligent, outspoken, witty, unique men and women’ who E Tautz is ‘fortunate to count as customers and friends’. It also pays homage to the profound influence that photography has had on E Tautz under Grant’s ownership. His postwar, sportswear aesthetic draws heavily from the classic, sepia-toned British photobook, and he counts such photographers as Sophie Green and Chris Rhodes as direct inspirations.
The ‘150’ showcase is an outward looking, generous way to spend such an important birthday and, providing you know your Wyn Evans from your Winkleman, it could be a serious photo opportunity.
