A classic breed

Rory Brogan visits Dunhill's head office on London's Jermyn Street and discovers a new chapter in the brand's history, with the launch of its latest-generation eyewear for men

When Alfred Dunhill was clocked driving at 22.5 mph and fined for speeding at the turn of the century, his response was swift and humorous, developing a pair of binocular-goggles called 'Bobby Finders'.

Designed to be worn by owners or their chauffeurs, the goggles, with detachable field glasses, enabled the wearer to 'spot a policeman at half a mile, even if disguised as a respectable man', as the advertising blurb of the day explains it.

This spirit of invention typified the company Dunhill created on inheriting his father's saddlery business in 1893. He bravely turned his back on equestrian goods and began producing everything required for the fledgling motoring industry, from dashboard-mounted clocks, through to clothing and an extensive line of goggles.

Early Dunhill brochures reveal eyewear suited to the rigours of open-air driving, some with expanding bridges, others with side pieces and lenses to stop glare. There was even a tweed driving hat that could be turned around, with drop-down goggles for flying your bi-plane.

Yann Debelle de Montby, Dunhill's director of image and press relations, and clearly an enthusiast, describes the company founder as 'hugely adventurous, always inventing new things'. 'I didn't know he was so unique. Dunhill was always very close to his customers and that spirit continues today.'

He describes Dunhill creations as 'items that tempt gentlemen to overspend, things they don't need but they end up cherishing' (such as the miniature Sterling silver pepper grinder pictured above).

'That's what luxury is about, for example a lighter that is passed down from generation to generation. Very few brands manage to bring that sort of emotion of Dunhill.'

One of the company's earliest advertising strap lines was, 'There's always something new at Dunhill', and, true to form, there is indeed something very new from the brand. An eyewear collection developed with Italian firm Allison is set to be previewed at Optrafair.

Debelle de Montby explains that the line of 12 sunglasses and 20 frames has been inspired by the 'gentleman traveller' and the spirit of adventure of the 'Dunhill man'. Having just come back from a horse-riding trip in Mongolia to source cashmere for Dunhill jumpers, he could be just the person to wear them.

'I consider myself first as the customer. Each time I come into the Dunhill store I want to buy something new and wear it because I enjoy it. The glasses have to be different, and Allison has done an amazing job.'

The eyewear, he says, is a modern interpretation of the past, a product that has the Dunhill identity and 'gives unexpected practical luxury, without a big label stamped on the side'.

Some of the detailing is particularly subtle, from a small, upturned 'd' on the side of a black resin frame, to the metal roll of its famous lighter on the hinge of a sunglass, a sizeable piece in havana tortoiseshell. One slim, bi-metallic frame has lightweight aluminium rims and steel sides, etched with a fine, barely visible logo.

According to Tony Joyce, Dunhill's retail and licensing director, there are some 'apex' models, for example a kidskin-covered wraparound sunglass with panoramic lenses that has an RRP of Û450. However, they have avoided the pitfalls of the past where Dunhill, although not a jewellery brand, offered jewellery eyewear pieces.

Now there are affordable styles priced slightly above competitor brands, complete with either hard or soft chocolate brown leather cases and displayed in a faux-leather POS stand, complete with vintage-style goggle showcard.

'We had a real story to tell people who carried the eyewear that we are back, and created stand-out point of sale to go with it,' says Joyce.

The company's rich tradition (see panel below) is something Debelle de Montby is particularly keen to draw upon. He aims to renew the passion of Dunhill's glory days of the 1930s and 40s, when it could count Picasso and Marlene Dietrich as customers. It was also a time when Lawrence of Arabia gave window dressing advice on passing the Jermyn Street store. You could be forgiven for thinking he had a hand in the current store design, with its barber shop and cigar room on the first floor and a window display featuring three vintage motorbikes. These include a Vincent Black Shadow bike that has been totally rebuilt for Dunhill, with a makeover by designer Nick Ashley, nothing new for a company that had a six-seater private jet in its 1961 offering.

Peppered throughout the shop/part gentlemen's club are cabinets containing Dunhill treasures of the past, sitting alongside clothing, leather goods and luggage of today.