Why it's time to dust off your velvet

Austin Powers has a lot to answer for, and I don’t just mean for inflicting his tedious catchphrases on the world at the turn of the century. The fictitious spy’s suits in heavy velvet only served to align the fabric with the seedier operatives of the Sixties and Seventies. But it’s time for a re-think.

In some ways, Powers was on the right lines; there is something inherently sensual about the texture and tactility of velvet; it positively asks to be stroked. It’s perhaps the most louche menswear fabric of all, which makes it a natural bedfellow for winter festivities. And velvet has long played its part in the wardrobes of the icons of men’s style.

The fabric gets its tufted texture and lustrous, gleaming surface from loops of silk or cotton bound in a dense pile. There are conflicting theories about its origin, but it’s likely that it was first spun in the Orient before making its way to Europe during the days of the Silk Road, with its complex weave turning it into a luxury status symbol.

By the late 19th and early 20th century, in menswear at least, it became the fabric of choice for the smoking jacket, a plush, soft-structure affair that sits somewhere between a blazer and a robe, a piece that brings to mind a certain cognac-by-the-fire dandyism and decadence.

Velvet tuxedo, £450, Hugo Boss

Velvet has always stood out by virtue of what it’s not; it could never be the stuff of corporate attire. It’s not the blazer of choice for workaday life – which is perhaps why it held such appeal in the Sixties and Seventies among style renegades such as Mick Jagger, Marc Bolan, Jimi Hendrix and David Bowie.

For this winter, a host of brands agree. Tom Ford has always been a champion of sumptuous velvet jackets; so too have Dunhill and Favourbrook, who make beautiful jewel-toned versions. It’s the ultimate fabric for winter soirées: heavy enough to be substantial in colder climes, but exuding a sense of festivity and glamour. If you happen to have one in the wardrobe, pep it up by brushing the velvet in one direction to create a smooth patina. Then, all you need to add is a cocktail and a raffish air.

Tracking the trend

Early years

Velvet had been around for centuries, but it was the smoking jacket – and its place on the silver screen – that helped make it a byword for debonair élan, as seen on Noël Coward and Clark Gable, smouldering by the fire in Gone with the Wind, or David Niven, pictured right with Deborah Kerr in Prudence and the Pill.

David Niven in a velvet smoking jacket in 1968's Prudence & The Pill

Hell-raising 70s

Mick Jagger and the boys turned to velvet in the hell-raising heyday of the Rolling Stones in the Seventies – he even favoured velvet trousers to fly in – as well as David Bowie and Jimi Hendrix, who was often seen in flared fuchsia velvet.

Modern day

Designers have sharpened up velvet by applying it to sleek tuxedo jackets, as seen at Berluti, Hugo Boss and Dries Van Noten, It’s glamorous allure has also made it a natural fit for the red carpet, as seen on Eddie Redmayne, David Gandy and Chris Hemsworth.

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