The Newt x Niwaki: A gardening uniform inspired by a bucolic British country estate

Hadspen House, the 18th-century West Country residence which now is The Newt in Somerset – a luxury hotel owned by South African businessman Koos Bekker and his wife, Karen Roos – has always been better known for its gardens than the relatively modest dwelling itself (in its current incarnation, the main house has just 13 guest rooms).

A sprawling 800-acre working estate, the bucolic gardens have gone through various states of transformation in their three centuries of existence, from the early designs of William Player – drawing on the measured symmetry of formal French gardens of the era – to the 1970s renovation by influential gardener Penelope Hobhouse, who made Hadspen House the subject of her 1989 book The Country Gardener.

Since becoming The Newt in Somerset (the hotel opened in 2019 as a sister property to Bekker and Roos’ Babylonstoren in Stellenbosch, South Africa), the gardens have been under the stewardship of Italian-French architect Patrice Taravella. Unfolding over descending terraces, the main gardens have a serene formality, centring around over 460 species of meticulously maintained ornamental apple trees (a newer 'Four Seasons' garden elsewhere on the grounds is similarly Baroque-inspired).

But Taravella’s vision for the grounds extends beyond the decorative: across the estate, an extensive staff grow much of the produce to service The Newt’s various restaurants – from a vast orchard to a working garden with over 300 cultivars of fruits, vegetables and herbs. (During my recent visit, we were in the midst of rhubarb season, which meant rhubarb fool and rhubarb ripple ice cream in The Newt’s on-site Gelateria, while a first batch of ruby-hued pink cider was being tested, made from rare red-fleshed apples.)

Such work requires good tools, and Taravella and his staff have long relied on Niwaki, a British-Japanese gardening tools company first envisioned by founder Jake Hobson after a formative trip to Japan in the late 1990s. Fascinated by the country’s gardens – and the philosophy behind them – he, alongside his wife and co-founder Keiko Hobson, has since grown Niwaki ('Garden Tree') into a prolific producer of considered gardening tools and accessories, made in Japan by a lineage of craftspeople.

Case in point: the 'Hori Hori', a knife-like tool which is used in Japan in lieu of a trowel (its sharp edges make for easy digging through weeds or undergrowth, though can also be used to chop and slice). ‘The Hori Hori is en is endlessly versatile,’ Hobson tells Wallpaper*. ‘To quote our latest catalogue, it is a bulb planter, ivy scraper, root remover, snail flicker, digging demon, sansai forager, all-purpose subterranean rummager and trusty foot soldier in the war on weeds. It’s the kind of tool you end up using for everything once you get the hang of it.’

You will find the Hori Hori hanging from the belt of almost every gardener you encounter at The Newt, alongside the Higurashi secateurs and tool bag – three products which have been reimagined as part of The Newt x Niwaki, a new collaborative collection. ‘I’d long admired The Newt from afar, their gardens, their philosophy, the attention to detail, it all resonated with how we approach things at Niwaki,’ says Hobson. ‘They’re just down the road from our HQ in Dorset, so there was already a strong local connection. Their team had been using our tools for some time, and the idea of doing something more intentional and collaborative naturally evolved from there.’

Seeing common ground in ‘a shared outlook of craft and quality', Hobson worked with Atsushi Hasegawa, the Japan-born head of creative at The Newt on the collection. Rather than full-scale reinvention – these were, after all, working tools – the various components of the collection simply have subtle The Newt engraving, while the tool bag and cases are reimagined in ‘Newt-green’ canvas. (Hasegawa tells Wallpaper* his creative decisions – like colour choices – often begin with wandering in the garden, where he enjoys ‘[the places where] the cultivated meets the wild... those untamed spaces hold everything together, [they] make it all feel alive.)

Alongside the tools is the introduction of the ‘Samue’ jacket, made specially for the collaboration. ‘Samue’, which translates from Japanese as ‘work clothes’, is cut from Newt-green cotton canvas and recalls the wrapped, tie-front construction of the kimono. ‘It draws inspiration from traditional Japanese workwear, but also takes cues from our enduring classic, the Kojima work jacket,’ explains Hobson, who says such garments were traditionally worn by ‘farmers, craftsmen, and monks’ and cut with room to crouch, stretch and move – all essential for the avid gardener.

That said, Hobson notes that the ‘Samue’ jacket, which is designed for both men and women, is ‘equally at home whether you're pruning in the garden or heading out for lunch’ – something Hasegawa can attest, admitting that he isn't much of a gardener himself, preferring to spend his time outdoors flyfishing (though, he notes, his wife is often found in their garden with a pair of Niwaki secateurs).

‘In Japanese, we have two words that mean “to wear”: kiru and haoru. Haoru describes something more relaxed, just draped over the shoulders, without buttons or fastenings,’ he says. ‘The Samue is incredibly versatile, more so than a shirt or T-shirt. It’s easy to throw on – haoru! – and you can understand why this shape has lasted for centuries.’

The clothing element speaks to a growing symbiosis between fashion and gardening, with brands from Dior Men to Fendi referencing gardening attire in recent collections (the former, for S/S 2023, saw then-creative director Kim Jones reference Christian Dior’s own love of gardening with Wellington-inspired boots, sunhats and aprons). Elsewhere, there’s the burgeoning Milanese label Rovi Lucca, which describes itself as creating ‘elevated workwear for garden lovers’ inspired by the gardens of Lucca, where co-founders Bradley Seymour and Fabrizio Taliani spent the pandemic tending the gardens of Taliani’s grandmother’s home.

Even Niwaki has previously collaborated with fashion labels Oliver Spencer, Noah, Paul Smith, Ulla Johnson and eyewear brand Cubitts – the long list a testament to fashion’s curiosity around gardening. ’Niwaki is, at its core, a playful and creative brand,’ says Hobson. ‘Collaborations give us the opportunity to push boundaries and explore ideas; to get fresh perspectives and open the door to new audiences. The more unexpected and unconventional the collaboration, the more enjoyable and impactful it becomes.’

This collaboration is available online at niwaki.com and at Niwaki Chiltern Street, as well as thenewtinsomerset.com and The Newt in Somerset from 2 May 2025.