One of my great joys is meeting interesting people with exciting stories. Dashing Tweeds is an excellent vehicle for such encounters. Free thinking folk with a zest for life, a love of colour and a certain rebellious streak find their way here and then great things can happen.

This is certainly the case as we launch our collaboration with racing driver Jacques Villeneuve. You may remember him winning the 1997 Formula One World Championship whilst wearing a splendidly colourful helmet.

Last year Jacques really enjoyed wearing Dashing suits at Goodwood Revival. Sharing a love of colour and originality, it seemed like a natural idea to design a collection together. 

We’ve worked together using the exact Pantone references from his helmet and have woven three exclusive tweed designs as well as a range of ready to wear and accessories.

Launching online on the 1st September,

and available in store from the 3rd September.

The standout pattern is called JV Check – a bold mix of pink, blue, yellow, green and red woven together in a large scale Madras style check giving the bright colour combinations space to shine.

100% wool, 520-550g/ 18-19oz.

Using the same colours in a Glenurquhart pattern this design is called the Chuck Check. With a blue and green ground beneath a red, yellow and pink overcheck. The effect is both exciting and elegantin equal measure.

100% wool, 535-565g/ 18-19oz.

Slipstream is the third Villeneuve collaborative design. Using all of Jacques’ racing colours on a black ground, subtly combining them into a vibrant herringbone stripe the cloth appears almost as if colourful tyre treads have streaked by.

100% wool, 555-585g/ 19-20oz.

https://www.dashingtweeds.co.uk/product-category/aw25

We are expanding our ready to wear collections by popular demand, tailoring looks that are easy to wear and fit well. Everyone loves our bomber jackets, an elegant zipped design featuring a classic collar, slanted welt side pockets and a neat rib on the cuff and bottom to finish it off. We have cut them to sit easily on your natural waist which gives a flattering silhouette without bulging.

Our Slipstream bomber jackets are set to fly off the shelves. We’ve worked hard to grade a size to fit everyone. With their black ribbed cuffs and waist there is no problem matching them to items of your wardrobe. The subtly striped design with all the colours of Jacques’ helmet artfully interwoven are lined in the highest quality tyre black lining. The central zip stops at the generous collar which is wide enough to be worn up around the neck and fastened with a collar tab cleverly buttoned to the left inside pocket. The right pocket is zipped for security on the move. The overall look exemplifies our ethos of modernising classic design with verve.

Over-shirts can be worn over a shirt or tee-shirt to complete your look. As well as smartening you up, they have useful pockets for everyday gadgets and as ours are tailored in pure wool they work well in all weathers. Wool never feels cold when wet, it also drys quickly and blocks out UV rays so it is ideal for variable autumn days. To add a certain panache we have include epaulets on our shirts, these military details were originally used to fasten shoulder straps and indicate your rank. I find them useful for holding gloves or a fashionable cap.

One can never have enough scarves. They top off any autumn look, adding a flourish as well as keeping you warm on dreary days. Whilst discussing designs with Jacques he loved the rolling colours and stripes on the design blanket and suggested that we add a range of lambswool scarves. They are generously long at seven feet and make ideal gifts especially for fans of motor racing.

https://www.dashingtweeds.co.uk/product-category/ready-to-wear/scarves

Tweed caps are probably the one item of clothing that have never gone out of style. Worn in Britain for hundreds of years they move with the times. Our classic caps are all handmade in Yorkshire in time honoured fashion. We’re brought them right up to date with our new bold collaborative checks. The eight piece cap has seen a return to popularity, they are full bodied and suit most heads, looking equally good on men and women. Interestingly each cap is unique as they are cut from varying parts of the large scale patterns. Baseball style caps in tweed have been a surprising success over the last year and so we are including these. The pure wool cloth lends an elegance that can’t be matched by synthetics.

SAVE THE DATE:

Thursday 9th October

12pm – 8pm

We are organising a collection launch day with evening drinks on Thursday 9th October, During the day we will invite press and buyers to view the collection and discuss the potential of extending our Jacques Villeneuve collaboration. Then in the evening from 6pm we will be serving drinks to you, our friends and supporters of the brand.

You will have a chance to try on all the looks and we will be displaying the story of the teamwork needed to bring this project to fruition. Unseen woven designs will be displayed and we will talk about the whole process; how the choice of wool yarns is made, the weaving and finishing process and behind the scenes film and photography.

It is also Wool Month in October, so we will be celebrating the use of wool throughout this collection.

See you then, if not before to grab the limited stock.

All the best,

Team Dashing