Jeremy Hackett: ‘People often say that I’m an influencer and I always answer back: “I’m usually under the influence”’

Jeremy Hackett wore his first tweed suit aged seven at Holy Communion. It was made by the local school tailor. ‘It’s always been important to me,’ he says of formal dressing, showing me a photo of himself in said suit, beaming with pride. ‘I’ve been wearing tweed ever since.’ Now aged 73, Jeremy is as synonymous with Britishness, good taste and enduring style as the royals are. The designer and entrepreneur is as much of a Savile Row staple as his eponymous brand.

Of course, growing up in Bristol in the 1960s, ‘everybody was wearing suits’ Jeremy says, lamenting at how different things have become today. Luckily, for those like-minded individuals who still pride themselves on traditional formal dressing, Hackett has just released a new tweed in collaboration with Country Life (now available in a selection of Hackett shops and the company’s bespoke headquarters at No 14 Savile Row). ‘The thing is, that even though less men are wearing suits — it’s now almost become a niche product — people come to us for suits, and we’re selling them better than we ever did, because there aren’t many places that sell suits now.’

Jeremy left school aged 16 and continued to work his Saturday job at a tailors. He remembers his father warning him ‘If you don’t pull your socks up you'll end up working in a shop,' but Jeremy recalls ‘he was very proud once he saw the Hackett name and everything'.

Despite his love of the old school, Jeremy doesn’t shy away from breaking the mould from time to time. For example, he once tried to make a Hackett condom. ‘Yeah. What did I call them? Pullovers!’ he says. Unsurprisingly, it did not go down well with many members of the business and a Hackett pullover remains very much a piece intended for a gentleman’s torso. But the whimsy and mischievous side of Jeremy is still very much alive and well.

‘I think you can’t take it too seriously,’ he says of his philosophy. ‘Having a good bespoke suit obviously is a serious investment, but when it comes to pullovers and polo shirts and all that sort of stuff, you can have a bit of fun with it, and I think that’s important.’ This is an attitude that is perhaps the product of a difficult childhood. Jeremy grew up in care, something which he doesn’t talk about often, least of all with the press, but which is to be the subject of his upcoming autobiography. ‘It’s very early days, but it’ll be about my growing up in the care home and then being adopted, and then much later on finding my birth parents.’ He doesn’t want to talk further about it, lest it spoils the book.

He has lived in South London for 26 years, ever since he moved to the capital to pursue his career, and pooh-poohs any talk of retirement, although he also pooh-poohs too much modernisation. ‘People often say that I’m an influencer and I always answer back: “I’m usually under the influence”,’ he says of his popular Instagram account. ‘The thing about influencers is that you invite them to an event and all they're interested in really is taking selfies of themselves and they might mention the brand. … there’s no depth to anything,’ he says, before adding ‘I’m not a massive fan. I prefer real journalism.’

Hackett itself is ever expanding, with a new shop recently opened in Vienna, and Hackett the man is just as busy as ever. Maybe the Country Life tweed is just the start of a string of new styles and collaborations from the brand. Although I still don’t expect the Hackett condom to be released anytime soon.

Your aesthetic hero

David Hockney. He’s somebody that I knew from about 1978, when I was a partner in a shoe shop in Covent Garden. He came in one day and ordered some shoes. When I was making out the bill, there was a little post-it note, and he did a small doodle on it. When he left I put it away in the till, and I think that my partner squirreled it away. I’ve never seen it since.

He was amazing, and what I liked about Hockney was his dress sense. It was so relaxed, and he put stuff together in a way that only David Hockney could manage to do, without it looking too thought out. Even though he may well have thought it out, it just looked great. Colour as well, lots of colour.

The last thing of note that you bought for yourself

I’m not kidding you, the last thing I bought was the Country Life tweed suit.

A possession you would never sell

My 1963 Rolex Explorer. I have had it for 28 years. It keeps perfect time.

An exhibition that really impressed you

I went to see a Gilbert & George exhibition at the Tate Britain a few years ago. It was very very British, but it was an irreverent take on it, which I like very much. I also went to an exhibition — I think it was at the Saatchi Gallery — and there was a walkway with glass panels on either side, which looked as though they were full of oil. When you reached the end you realised that they were only an inch deep, whereas it looked about three feet deep. That was remarkable. Very extraordinary. But not one that you could take home with you.

A book you’ve found inspiring

Well, this is quite an interesting thing. I recently saw an interview on Instagram with the journalist Andrew Pierce. He's quite right wing, but aside from that he wrote this incredible book called Finding Margaret, which was about finding his mother. There were a lot of parallels to my upbringing, because I was brought up in care, so I contacted him and asked if he’d like to have lunch. It turned out we were in the same orphanage. He was a few years older than me, but we shared a lot of similar experiences. His book has inspired me to write my own book. Now I’ve just got to buckle down and write it.

Your favourite painting

A Bigger Splash, by Hockney. That’s just an amazing painting — such a brilliant colour blue.

The music that you work to

When I used to do my homework, and now that’s going back a long time, I used to listen to Donovan, Dylan and Carole King. Now I listen to Miles Davis and Chet Baker — both very soothing. When I am writing the book I listen to Miles Davis. I do like Marvin Gaye as well.

The last podcast you listened to

That’s a tough one because I’m not sure that I really listen to them, although I like The News Agents. I listen to that and think it’s very good.

The person that would play you in a film of your life

Well, when I was much younger people used to say: ‘You look a bit like Robert De Niro’. Later, people have said that I look a bit like Alec Baldwin, but Robert De Niro, I have always liked.

What you’d take with you to a desert island

I’d have a sleeping bag, an A4 diary so that I could keep account of the days that I’m there, as long as it isn’t more than a year. I'd also take a flashlight for passing ships, matches to light a fire, a hunting knife to cut down palms and so on, maybe string that I could then tie to a stick so that I could catch fish. Then to read, which I never really comprehended at school, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. And then I could play act some of the parts to sort of pass the time. I’m sure in the end I'd end up talking to myself anyway, so I might as well try and learn some lines too.

The items you collect

I collect memorabilia by the former Prince of Wales, Edward VIII, who had very little common sense, but great dress sense, and I’ve always admired the way he looked. By accident I sort of started collecting bits and pieces. I bought these boots on Portobello Road, they had been thrown out of a furniture van into the gutter early one morning. I picked them up, thinking: ‘Well, that’s a nice pair of boots’.

When I took them home and looked inside it said ‘H.M the King’. I took them to George Cleverley, the shoemaker, and asked him about them. He confirmed they would have been made for the King, but were never delivered because the King abdicated. I paid £3 for them, and had them in the window of our original shop. Someone once asked to buy them for £10,000. I said no.

The thing that gets you up in the morning

My dog, Harry, who almost on the dot of 6am jumps on the bed.

A hotel you could go back and back to

When I go to New York, I always stay at The Carlyle. It’s a real old-school hotel. It’s done properly and it’s perfect, and they have a wonderful bar, called Bemelmans. It’s incredible, but if I am on holiday I don't like staying in fancy hotels and I often go to a place in Cornwall called Hayle. In the sand dunes they have all of these 1960s chalets painted in pastel colours, I've stayed there frequently.

The most memorable meal you’ve ever had

It’s actually one I have frequently at the Arlington — the crispy duck salad. It’s always memorable, I love the atmosphere, I love the service. It’s delicious, in fact sometimes I’ve had it as a takeaway as well.

The best present you’ve ever received

I’m going back to the Rolex Explorer because it was a present my mother gave me 28 years ago. It’s very precious to me. I would never sell it, even if I was destitute.

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The Country Life tweed is now available in a selection of Hackett shops and the company’s bespoke headquarters at No 14 Savile Row.