You want the best. And heck, you deserve the best. But there's a lot of choice out there, and sometimes the best is hard to find. Fortunately, we know where to find it. Every week, the Esquire editors reveal their favourite brands, from under-the-radar steals to luxury loves, so you can invest in the best clothes, watches and accessories that money can buy.
This week, the knitwear hot list for the cold snap.
Brunello Cucinelli
Dan Choppen, Fashion Assistant
"In the depths of winter, a cosy, cashmere embrace is the pick-me-up you'll crave. So start taking your knitwear seriously; if you invest in your jumpers and cardigans, they will last longer and age better in return.
"Start at the top, in the small Italian commune of Solomeo, ideally. Here Brunello Cucinelli's HQ lives, with the luxury brand using only the best fabrics and techniques to create the softest cashmere on the planet. Usually, a cable knit screams angry seaman. But in Mr Cucinelli's hands, it's more riviera yachtsman (on the off-season)."
Howlin'
Finlay Renwick, Deputy Style Editor
"In Scottish slang the word 'howlin’' means something that smells bad. As in, "Hamish, that deep fried Mars Bar is a bit howlin'".It is also the name of my favourite knitwear brand. Based in Antwerp, but Scottish-made, Howlin’ makes heavy Shetland knits in wavy colours: old rose, astro dream, nuts and shroom are just a few names on its tripped out personal Pantone chart.
"With its esoteric branding and bright palette, Howlin’ has turned the Shetland knit into a cool designer item, far removed from the schlubby professor look or back of the vintage shop scratchy jumpers. Along with crew knits and roll necks, there are trippy scarves, gloves, socks and a recent foray into autumnal corduroy and summer seersucker, all of it stylish, well made, tongue in cheek and not at all smelly."
Sunspel
Murray Clark, Digital Style Editor
"You make the best white T-shirt in the world, and you say job done, I am complete, I leave this world in a better place than I found it. Unless you're Sunspel, with the British menswear heavyweight as committed to making other world bests as it is the arduous task of superior T-shirts.
"Take the knitwear. Thick, chunky and neutral, it's the sort of winter battle armour that'll accompany – and outlast – the Michelin Man-on-LSD puffer jackets I've taken to over the last couple of years. It may not have the rep of Sunspel's superior organic T-shirt, sure, but it's honestly just as good."
Universal Works
Nick Pope, Deputy Digital Editor
"I have this hobby where I sit and stare at all the things I want, but can’t afford, from Universal Works. Then I mournfully make a sandwich and sulk for a few hours. It is not a particularly fun or emotionally healthy hobby, but it is a hobby nonetheless.
"Still, sometimes it all gets a bit too much. It’s easy to wake up from a fugue state with five identical Baker jackets in your shopping basket, and the arrival of the British brand’s heritage-inspired A/W 20 knitwear collection has truly sent me over the edge. I just bought this three-pocket wool cardigan, and the fit is perfect – slouchy, but not overly so, reassuringly wooly, but not itchy. I also have my eye on this alpaca wool crew neck. And this fleece, come to think of it. I'm starting to feel woozy again, lads. The sandwich can wait."
Jamieson's of Shetland
Tom Nicholson, Digital Writer
"The autumn marketing board's played an absolute blinder over the last decade or so. It's suddenly cold and grey and bank holiday-free, yet some seem positively giddy about it.
"Don't get me wrong, though, I like being a cosy boy. Autumn brings the kind of weather that makes you want to sit close to a fireside, probably with a whisky (it's horrible, but it's correct) and a faithful border collie at your heel. 'By gar,' you mutter to yourself, 'haven't seen rain like this since the great drizzle of February.' In that situation, you want a thick Fair Isle knit, and you want one from Jamieson's.
"This family-owned business has been making fine knitwear using only wool from Shetland sheep for five generations, and being based way out in Sandness on the Shetlands they know cosy. They do some lovely crews in blocks of buttercup yellow and soft pink, but save that for spring. Curl up in your artichoke hug and stick another log on."
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