The Rake

The world’s preeminent publication dedicated to the renaissance in gentlemanly sophistication and style, THE RAKE recaptures the codes of classic men’s elegance. Inspired by icons such as Cary Grant, Fred Astaire, the Duke of Windsor, Gianni Agnelli, Sean Connery, and their contemporary counterparts, THE RAKE provides incisive, in-depth commentary on magnificent menswear, and the many other elements of gentlemanly living, from manners and ethics, to art and design, tasteful travel, health and well-being, the intellectual and philosophical, to homes, modes of transport, entertainment, food and drink. THE RAKE is the modern voice of classic elegance.

Letter from the Founder

Letter from the Editor

Contributors

arbiter • BECOMING IRA; LADY AND THE CHAMP; HAIL TO THE CHIEF’S DOG; JONESING.

FÜRSTEN FOREMOST • She was betrothed at 14, twice divorced at 25, and now, aged 80, she stands as a trailblazer for female celebrities turned cross-cultural influencers. As one critic observed, Princess Ira von Fürstenberg always had the ‘courage of her modernity’.

MAJOR RELIEF • Donald Trump was the first president in more than a century not to have a family pet in the White House — a void that, for many, spoke volumes. Now the Biden clan and their German Shepherds are helping nature heal…

DIRECTOR’S CUT • Alessandra Codinha, the Style Director of Departures magazine, lets us turn the tables on her in New York.

AMAZING GRACE • She has wowed, aroused and confounded in equal measure for half a century. And Grace Beverly Jones — grandmother, doyenne, original — isn’t done.

atelier • INVESTMENT HANKER; MADE IN MANCHESTER.

INVEST • Investments can be unpredictable, but not so with these four winners, which we have handpicked to provide you with sound and secure appreciation — aesthetically, spiritually and financially.

MANCHESTER BY THE V.C. • With every garment handcrafted in the last remaining clothing factory in the world’s first industrial city, Private White V.C.’s proud history is shaping the label’s future.

articles • LIFE IMITATES ARTERTON; CRESPI ROLES; LADIES IN THREAD; STEERING A NEW COURSE.

DOWN TO A FINE ART • It feels as though Gemma Arterton has gone from ingénue to leading lady in the blink of an eye. As she returns to mainstream cinema after a self-imposed absence, she is ready to claim her freedom — freedom to choose, to change her mind, and, most importantly, to be herself.

PORTRAIT OF A LADY • Without Countess Consuelo Crespi, the Italian fashion industry might not be the commercial and cultural force it is today. The irony, writes NICK FOULKES, is that Crespi was not even remotely Italian. She was a Henry James or Edith Wharton heroine updated for the jet age.

The shape of things to come • A new generation of female artisans is redefining what it means to be a British tailor. ALEKS CVETKOVIC talks to seven who are leading the charge.

THE (DOUBLE) X FACTOR • The push to change motor racing’s ethnic make-up is a hot topic, but what of its chromosomal make-up? W Series, the all-women single-seater championship, has set itself a transformative goal: to ‘change the face of motorsport — quite literally’.

AN OFFICE AND A GENTLEMAN • Our working habits may have changed for ever. If so, what happens to certain fantasies and style opportunities associated with office life? A valediction in pictures…

shop the rake • THE SLICK AND THE THREAD.

DANSE MACABRE • While we have been kept apart for too long, our yearning to be together is perhaps what has sustained us — and there is light at the end of the tunnel. But if we must go it alone, we must do it in style.

compendium • DRAWING A BLANCPAIN; WHAT TIME IS IT?; THE WATCH MAN; ROAMING ROME; LADY KILLER.

BEAUTY...