This season Walker Slater has ventured on to the streets of Belgravia in London to explore the elegant terraced stucco townhouses, garden squares, international embassies and upmarket hotels. While our Scottish landscapes remain an endless source of inspiration, for this collection, we have been influenced by the early 19th Century district developed by Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Marquess of Westminster.
trousers into womenswearBelgravia was selected to give it a lighter and more elegant feel. The area's linear architecture mirrors the clean tailoring lines of the collection, creating a perfect harmony between the setting and the designs. This new perspective on Walker Slater in the city highlights sophistication, craftsmanship and the principles of timeless style.
For SS24 Contemporary we have incorporated stripes in both men's linens and women's suiting to echo the stonework and detailing of the beautiful streets and buildings around the location. This design choice ties our collection to its surroundings, creating a harmonious blend of fashion and architecture that highlights the elegance of flannel, linen and cashmere wool tweed.
The contemporary collection in 2024 represents a modern twist on our usual style, contrasting with our country collection. It's centred around our highly structured tailoring and suiting, featuring simpler, more refined colour palettes. For summer, we've incorporated linen into the collection, sourcing beautiful, lightweight fabrics and exploring various patterns like chalk stripes and hopsack weaves. We've introduced wider-leg trousers into womenswear and updated the Donn trouser for men with a new silhouette that is fuller at the waist and tapers to a narrow hem. These new cuts bring a refreshing update to our designs, subtly pushing our looks forward while staying true to our commitment to exceptional tailoring.
Separate looks are central to our offering and success at Walker Slater. While we do offer a wide range of three-piece suits and have seen great success with them, each component of the suit is sold individually. We’ve long enjoyed clients seeking to purchase just a jacket or a pair of trousers. With our selection of understated yet luxurious fabrics, it’s easy to mix and match a few key pieces to create a sartorial yet relaxed summer look. This approach allows for personal style and versatility in every outfit.
Tailoring extends well beyond the jacket. We place equal importance on waistcoats and trousers for both men and women. Recently, we've noticed a significant increase in clients seeking ladies' waistcoats, which they pair with matching trousers, mismatched skirts, or even jeans. This trend underscores the flexibility of our collection and highlights the many ways a single piece can be styled and worn. We love how this versatility demonstrates the adaptability of our offerings, allowing for a wide range of looks and personal expression.
Each piece is crafted with beautiful tailoring stories, prioritising wearability and comfort. This season, being contemporary for us means embracing soft fabrics like linen, Cashwool, and lighter-weight borders tweed, which you can see in our navy suiting. The colours shine through with the Donn linen suit in latte and navy, and the Hardie cut hopsack jacket in cream. For womenswear, we’ve introduced a striking new purple in the WC and matching Harper trousers, adding fresh hues to the season.
Stripes are beautifully balanced by the Hardie suit creating a harmonious blend of classic and modern elements. Striped suiting offers a timeless appeal, working equally well as a statement stripe trouser paired with a plain jacket or as a full suit. We've selected navy, latte, and light grey stripes to ensure they are approachable and versatile, adding just the right amount of detail to enhance an outfit without overwhelming it.
At Walker Slater, breaking norms is about doing so thoughtfully, and incorporating ties into ladies' wear is a trend we've been exploring for several seasons now to elevate our looks. We believe that ties can be both sartorially sophisticated and perfectly appropriate for women’s fashion. Inspired by brands like Ralph Lauren, where ties feature prominently in their womenswear collections, we've embraced this idea to add a distinctive edge to our designs. Mixing elements traditionally associated with men's fashion into ladies' wear allows us to create a unique and stylish statement.
Linen's durability and wearability make it a standout choice, even with its characteristic creasing that adds charm and character. As cities warm up in the summer, it’s essential for us to offer not just linen, but also lighter-weight tweeds like Cashwool and BT fabrics, providing a refreshing contrast to the heavier Harris tweeds and Shetland wools. We believe linen holds a distinct place in urban settings, perfect for relaxed evenings and weekends. A linen jacket or suit, paired with an open-neck shirt in fine cotton or linen, ensures a look that is both elegant and comfortable.
We often weave linen in a way that mimics the texture of wool, giving it a tweed-like, interesting feel while maintaining our signature look. We've also introduced a new shade of blue into our Cashmere wool suiting range, available exclusively in our London stores. These additions help instill a contemporary edge into the collection, perfectly capturing the essence of spring and summer.
Shop the Contemporary Collection in all branches; Edinburgh, London and Glasgow; and online.
