British heritage house Dunhill began life in 1893, when Alfred Dunhill took over his father’s London-based saddlery business aged just 21. Diverting from his father, he predicted a sea change in travel, pivoting from equestrianism to accessories for the burgeoning motor car industry, then its infancy (German engineer Carl Benz’s patent for the three-wheeled Benz Patent-Motorwagen in 1886 is largely considered the birth of the automobile).
Both saddlery – in which Alfred Dunhill had trained under his father – and outffiting the new motor car, required an expertise in leather, a material which remains foundational to the house today, despite its expansion into ready-to-wear and bespoke fashion (the brand is now best-known for fashion, led by current creative director Simon Holloway, a British designer who was previously of James Purdey & Sons).
The Bourbon Slim Document Case (available dunhill.com)
Now, a new collection of accessories – or, in Dunhill’s parlance, a ‘leather wardrobe’ – mines this expertise in the material to create a sleek set of bags and carry cases, designed to traverse work, travel and play. The styles are divided into various ‘families’, including the ‘Alfred’, featuring riffs on the document case; the ‘Bourbon’, which includes crossbody styles and is designed for use in the city; and the ‘Heritage’, which mines the Dunhill archive for more formal silhouettes, like the envelope and the attaché. The ‘Duke’ and ‘Dispatch’ families round out the group.
And, while the various bags serve different purposes, they are united by their relatively minimal design and considered craftsmanship – there is a midcentury influence to their lack of ornamentation, gently curved lines and architectural sensibility. Materials have been chosen for longevity (whether to retain their original condition or patina with time); the smallest details are exalted (from steering-wheel stitching to hardware inspired by Dunhill’s Unique and Rollagas lighters); while construction takes place in Italy, Switzerland and London’s Walthamstow, where handles for the bags are made.
Century Tote 33 (available dunhill.com)
It chimes with Holloway’s vision for the house, which has unfolded with shows and presentations in London and Milan (the designer began at Dunhill in April 2023). With these, he has sought to establish a wardrobe for what he calls the ‘discerning gentleman’, drawing on British traditions – from the Henley Boat Race to the uniforms of the aristocracy and royalty – and reimagining them for today, with a focus on material and construction.
‘These are not basic clothes for going into the office. These are clothes for enjoyment, for a life well-lived,’ he said after his sophomore show in 2024, while his A/W 2026 collection – presented in January in Milan – looked towards the figure of Antony Armstrong-Jones, Lord Snowdon. ‘It’s about the tension between aristocratic formality and unguarded artistic expression,’ he said at the time.
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