Drake's
East London haberdasher turned full menswear house, built on 'relaxed elegance' and a genuine manufacturing heritage.
- Founded
- 1977
- Founder
- Michael Drake
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Made In
- Portugal (outerwear); UK (ties, shirts); Italy (tailoring)
- Price Range
- Upper Mid
- Stance
- 8 / 10
- Coverage
- 11 products
Member ratings will fold into this score, coming with Loopwheel membership.
Drake's was founded in 1977 by Michael Drake in East London, a short walk from the silk weaving roots of Spitalfields. What began as scarves, shawls, and handmade ties grew into one of Britain's most respected menswear houses — still the largest independent producer of handmade ties in England. In 2010, Michael Hill (Drake's longtime understudy) and Mark Cho (co-founder of The Armoury) acquired the brand, keeping the ethos intact while expanding into soft tailoring, knitwear, outerwear, and selvedge denim. Today Drake's produces tailoring in Italy, knitwear in Scotland, shirts at their own factory in Chard, Somerset, and sources Japanese fabrics for their denim and outerwear. The brand's guiding philosophy — 'relaxed elegance' — is less a marketing line than a genuine design constraint: clothes that are refined without being stiff, and built to be worn for years.
Founded 1977 by Michael Drake.
Products from Drake's
Stone Wash Cotton Chambray Button-Down Collar Popover Shirt
Reviewed Jun 2026
Navy Cotton-Linen Camp Collar Three Pocket Short Sleeve Shirt
Reviewed Jun 2026
Red Stripe Cotton Fatigue Jacket
Reviewed Jun 2026
Mayumi Y. for Drake's Cotton Tote Bag
Reviewed Jun 2026
Mayumi Y. for Drake's Navy Cotton Twill Baseball Cap
Reviewed Jun 2026
Mayumi Y. for Drake's Stripe Cotton Camp Collar Short Sleeve Shirt
Reviewed Jun 2026
Mayumi Y. for Drake's Print Cotton Camp Collar Short Sleeve Shirt
Reviewed Jun 2026
Mayumi Y. for Drake's Stripe Cotton Embroidered Rugby Shirt
Reviewed Jun 2026
Khaki Linen Short Sleeve Camp Collar Military Shirt
Reviewed Jun 2026
Indigo Stripe Denim Field Jacket
Reviewed Jun 2026
Ecru Cotton-Hemp Smock Sweatshirt
Reviewed May 2026
// Within the lineup
Brand average: 7.8/10 · across 11 scored products
Best of the lineup
Below the line
Variance vs the brand’s make-quality average. Outliers sit ≥ 1.5 points above or below the mean — the kind of spread worth knowing before you click buy.
Return policy
14-day returns from date of delivery. Items must be unworn, unwashed, with tags attached. Return shipping cost is deducted from refund; exchanges and store credit get a complimentary return label. Online orders cannot be returned in-store.
Is Drake's Worth It?
Drake's earns its prices more consistently than almost any brand at this tier, averaging 8.1/10 across 8 reviewed pieces. The shirts and outerwear are where the money is best spent: the Khaki Linen Camp Collar Military Shirt scored 8.7 and the Indigo Stripe Denim Field Jacket scored 8.5, both for good reason. If you've been circling the brand and waiting for a reason to commit, the manufacturing story is real and the product backs it up.
Across 8 reviewed pieces, Drake's averages 8.1/10, with the Khaki Linen Short Sleeve Camp Collar Military Shirt leading at 8.7.
The man who wants considered British menswear with a genuine manufacturing heritage and is willing to pay for it without needing a logo to justify the spend.
The prices are real: shirts run $345-$425, outerwear hits $895, and none of it goes on sale in any meaningful way. You're paying for the provenance, and you need to be at peace with that before you click buy.
The make
Drake's isn't trading on heritage as a marketing line. Shirts are made at their own factory in Chard, Somerset. Tailoring is cut in Italy. Ties are still handmade in England, where Drake's remains the largest independent producer. The Indigo Stripe Denim Field Jacket at $895 uses Japanese fabric and is made in Portugal; the construction holds up to that price in a way that a lot of outerwear at this level doesn't. When a brand controls this much of its own production, the consistency shows across the range.
The lineup
The shirts are the entry point and the strongest argument for the brand. The Khaki Linen Camp Collar Military Shirt at $375 scored 8.7, and the two Mayumi Y. collaboration pieces (8.5 and 8.2 respectively) show that Drake's can do considered, print-forward work without it reading as costume. The Ecru Cotton-Hemp Smock Sweatshirt at $375 scored 8.3 and sits in an odd price bracket for a sweatshirt, but the cotton-hemp blend wears differently than anything at half the price. Nothing in the reviewed range scored below 8.2, which is a tighter quality band than most brands manage.
The value
Drake's is on the higher end for most shoppers, and there's no point pretending otherwise. A $425 camp collar shirt requires a specific kind of conviction. What you're buying is a product made closer to home, in smaller quantities, with fabrics sourced from Japan and the UK rather than wherever is cheapest that quarter. That's a real tradeoff, not a marketing one. The brand rewards the kind of shopper who buys fewer things and keeps them longer, and the scores across 8 pieces suggest the product holds up its end of that bargain.
Im a huge fan of brands that can stick to their traditions and manufacture closer to home. I do my best to support brands like these and give it a harder look. While Drake's likely on the higher end for most shoppers (including myself), i will absolutely indulge on a quality product if it speaks to me. Keep this brand on your radar, you're going to cave and splurge eventually.
Ties, scarves and pocket squares are handmade at Drake's own factory at 3 Haberdasher Street in East London (per brand About page and Wikipedia). Shirts are made at the brand's own shirt factory in Chard, Somerset, the former Rayner and Sturges factory acquired in July 2013. Per the brand's About page, soft tailoring is produced in Italy and knitwear in Scotland. Per Michael Hill in a Merchant & Makers interview, grenadine silk for ties is woven in Como, Italy on shuttle looms.
Drake's owns its own tie factory in London and shirt factory in Somerset and emphasizes natural fibres and long-lasting design in interviews, but holds no third-party certifications and publishes no measurable sustainability targets.
- 1977Foundedhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake's_(haberdashers)
- 2010Acquired by Michael Hill and Mark Chohttps://www.merchantandmakers.com/tie-making-with-drakes/
- 2013Acquired by Drake's (acquired Rayner and Sturges shirt factory)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake's_(haberdashers)
Ranked by archetype overlap, editorial stance, price tier, and ethos — not just “same archetype, three random.”
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