As a rapscallion juvenile schoolboy, your parents have carted you off to boarding school for the new academic term. Your father is busy working in the Square Mile during the day, and he gambles at the Clermont Club most evenings. While your mother spends the week attending ladies’ luncheons at the Goring Hotel twice a week, and may spend the weekend in London, your father retreats to the family’s country home on Thursday nights to go hunting on Saturdays. Some young whippersnappers may not see their parents until half-terms, or even until after the Christmas carol service, which they attend to pick you up for the winter holidays.
In David Niven’s case, the holiday fun would truly begin when he reached the age of 14. He lived in a damp room in St. James’s Place, while his mother and stepfather lived on Sloane Avenue. He would often walk to Piccadilly Circus to watch the electric signs, but some of you may know what else occupied his pastimes on Cork Street, a West End street that today has seen a flux of desirable sartorial menswear ateliers and replaced numerous art galleries.
Considering Niven’s actions at Heatherdown Preparatory School, Ascot, which resulted in his expulsion at the age of 10 and a half, it’s likely that he disrupted the reading time in the library. The clerk, who wore a slightly dishevelled corduroy suit, a thick roll-neck sweater and possibly a well-worn monk strap shoe to complete the ensemble, would banish and punish Niven for copying songs from the school hymn book for hours. As a young squire at school, even if the teacher has never sent you to detention, they always receive undue flack – although not face-to-face – but it is silly things like their dress sense that can rouse mickey-taking between friends.
From personal experience, it was the aforementioned or similar library attire that we deemed nerdy. However, the truth was that at that age you don’t understand or visualise dress on a broad enough spectrum because cultural understanding and appreciation are only really beginning to form at that age. As the phase of adolescence began, I always remember, not only for myself but also for my school comrades, that it was the Bee Gees (groovy rollneck disciples) who not only transformed our inclination toward popular music but also helped us break free from stereotypes, such as the librarian in the rollneck sweater. Now the Bee Gees, particularly Barry Gibbs, embodied the demure version of glam rock. This is roll necks sported at their best, at the opposite end of the sartorial spectrum; the roll neck, like the Harrington jacket, has been embraced and donned by the cognoscenti with real pizzazz and panache.
There are copious perils that can beset your image when wearing a rollneck. You must carefully choose the thickness, weight and fabric to match your chosen outfit. There are the wool chunky, neck-engulfing knit roll necks that, when worn underneath a trench coat in the guise of Leanord Cohen, perfectly balance flamboyance with simplicity. However, they can be cumbersome and unflattering when worn underneath a well-cut bespoke suit. Or, if you’re Mick Jagger, the allure of a rollneck can be best detected on its own. Then there’s the thin wool rendition, and with the harsh winter temperatures looming, where it already has for folk strolling along the Ponte Vecchio in Florence in below-centre-grade temperatures, it’s best served underneath a blazer or suit, even acting as your first of three layers, which comprise a roll neck, jacket, and Bridge coat, the latter now offered by AK MC in a sumptuous soft lambswool in either navy or camel.
As previously mentioned, meticulously crafted knit rollnecks from superior fabrics rival any garment you can imagine in terms of versatility. However, the design constructions elevate this statement. Alexander Kraft’s impeccable taste is evident in his reinterpretation of the cable knit roll neck sweater. The medium-weight cashmere versions are crafted from the finest 100% cashmere 6-ply yarn in a specialised, family-owned workshop in Northern Italy. They combine casual elegance with sophistication. All designs cleverly and purposefully pair with a diverse range of AK MC accompaniments.
It’s unlikely to be a coincidence that the glitterati of film have always preferred the medium-weight roll neck (not a cable iteration) as their first layer of choice, usually accompanied by an equally alluring lady. Three couples that spring to mind are Michael Caine and Shakira; the former, the king of the roll neck; he would even be seen strolling through departures with a cigar; Gunter Sachs and Brigitte Bardot; Roger Moore; and Louisa Mattioli. It symbolizes exceptional comfort during travel while also evoking a sense of freedom during a potentially lengthy transatlantic flight. It’s a crossing that Alexander Kraft only knows too well, and it’s likely to be a key reason behind the pure cashmere knit roll neck comprising a lightweight and soft handle was among the first designs introduced on the AK MC sartorial revolution.
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