“Is it wrong to wish on space hardware?” sings a young, pugnacious Billy Bragg on the 1983 hit “A New England.” It is a rollicking, punky jaunt about the search for romantic inspiration and making do with n’owt in Thatcherite Britain, and it acted as the soundtrack to a thankfully crisp, bright day on the grounds of London’s Edith Neville Primary School for Denzil Patrick’s 2025 fall collection.
“There’s always a sense of Britishness that we want to play with—play being the operative word. We don’t ever want to be disciples to it,” said Daniel Gayle. “We wanted to be braver.”
Both Gayle and Denzil Patrick’s artistic director, his husband, James Bosley, are keen storytellers. They’re inspired by the folkloric tales of British, Irish, and Jamaican heritage, and the personal arcs of family and influential men and women in their lives. The Everyday Majesty collection found its narrative focus on subverting the societal and emotional expressions of masculinity and brotherhood, through history and their own lives. “James and I grew up as queer people, and we were given freedom to do that,” said Gayle. “I look at my brothers and consider whether the world that has shaped them has given them the same access to the sensitivity that I cherish.”
This meant a deep research phase through history and visual culture’s portrayals of masculinity, and the paradox of male performance and peacockery. It sounds ambitious, and it was. But Denzil Patrick’s brigade of men come armed. Where past seasons set characters from Edwardian England in nightclubs and made orchestra ensembles out of blue-collar workers, this cast was made up of speedway racers (Bosley’s father was a bootleg boy racer), medieval clerics, feudal English lords, and jousters inspired by the 1981 film Knightriders.
But Gayle and Bosley dream bigger than the boundaries of nostalgia or history to deconstruct and rebuild notions of menswear. Traditional womenswear fabrics were utilized: A lustrous duchess satin was proposed in a raging red, stoically structured trenchcoat. Their merino wool program expanded with aiguillettes that bound close-fit knit cardigans. There was a curious sexual tension. “We don’t think of ourselves as a sexy brand, but we’ve found a sensuality for the men behind any kind of armor, mask, or shield,” Gayle said. He and Bosley called in real armory and worked with a silversmith to design their breastplates to contemporary proportions, which sat proudly over knits and under tailored trenches. Textures deepened: Hefty handwoven moto trousers and cinched puffy jackets, and a brown jacquard suit from one of the oldest weaving mills left in Lyon, were studded with a medieval crest pattern that carried through the collection. Sophisticated colors of teal, hot magenta, gunmetal, and regal red were introduced.
There were continuous visual reminders of energy. Ostrich-like feathers splayed from the lapel of one blazer and licked at the neck of another, both exacting and tending to a battle wound. A mud print splattered suit trousers and a “this-means-business” trench.
It’s in tailoring that Denzil Patrick defines both its signature silhouettes and the sensibilities of the men the designers have in mind. Today, there were functional trenches that could be worn multiple ways, bold shouldered and nimbly curved. Shield-shaped bags came big and mini, primed to be covetable and viral accessories.
It was important for Gayle and Bosley to do the live runway show, to capture the energy, movement, and theater of the clothes with a band of models they’ve worked with from the beginning. “People need to hear and feel the clothes,” Gayle said. “We want to engage a brotherhood…and a sisterhood!” Though, Gayle said, they’re not quite ready for womenswear—yet.
At a time when British identity is in question, Denzil Patrick holds the wish for better, a sense of hope, and the great British art of cheekiness.
