WHITNEY ROBINSON

In 1823, a Scottish chemist named Charles Macintosh developed a process for waterproofing fabric by bonding it with rubber. Unfortunately, the chemical solution he used left the material hard, brittle, and malodorous. Twenty years later, his business partner, Thomas Hancock, resolved these issues and patented the technique; yet Macintosh’s name (the variant spelling Mackintosh later […]

The Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana may be best known for its superbly curvaceous women’s wear, but this season, some of its most exciting—and formfitting—pieces are for men. “We started to make clothes for ourselves that we couldn’t find anywhere else—pieces that went beyond the look of a Wall Street banker with jackets with […]

Weighing in at 50 pounds, about half of which is wool, Sharapova stands indifferent to an admiring crowd of international journalists. Named for the Russian tennis star, Sharapova is a prizewinning Australian merino sheep, and beneath her curly gray topcoat lies a snow-white fleece coveted for its silken texture and strong fiber. “It doesn’t feel […]

For nearly a century, Belstaff has been synonymous with the open road. The company, founded in 1924 in Staffordshire, England, is best known as the maker of stylish waxed-cotton motorcycle jackets built to withstand the elements. Classic jackets such as the Roadmaster and the Trialmaster were favorites of sartorial icons from actor Steve McQueen to […]

Throughout his 45-year reign as the arbiter of classic American style, Ralph Lauren has amassed one of the world’s finest collections of automobiles, including prize-winning Ferraris, pristine Bugattis, and three enviable McLarens. But for the designer, who has shown the collection only twice—in 2005 at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and last year […]

Gucci has long provided accessories for traveling in style. Indeed, the Italian fashion house, whose offerings now range from car interiors to iPad cases, was founded by Guccio Gucci, in 1921 in Florence, as a luggage atelier.   Gucci’s signature clothing designs, bearing the GG logo or a horsebit embellishment, were made famous by celebrities […]