Hackett

Hackett is a British menswear house founded in London in 1983 by Jeremy Hackett and Ashley Lloyd-Jennings [4]. Its core business is men's clothing and tailoring, but within beauty it is present through a licensed men's fragrance line introduced in 2022. The company remains active, operating more than 160 stores across over 30 countries.

The brand grew out of a market stall and a secondhand-clothing shop, and over four decades became a recognisable name in traditional British menswear. Its fragrances extend that identity into scent, positioned around what the company calls British heritage paired with modern city life.

The company began in 1983, when Jeremy Hackett and Ashley Lloyd-Jennings started out from a stall on London's Portobello Road. An early shop on King's Road in Chelsea sold exclusively secondhand English clothing before the pair moved into original designs. Hackett has described the starting point in plain terms: "I started by scouring the flea markets in Portobello, buying unique pieces of English clothing."

The founder has framed the brand's outlook around durability rather than trend, saying he has "always been obsessed by good quality, things that endure, things that are properly made, things that have some sort of heritage to them" [4]. That emphasis on heritage, craftsmanship and quality has remained the company's stated through-line.

After establishing itself in London, Hackett expanded into Spain with a Madrid location in 1989. The company later grew into an international menswear retailer, and by June 2019 it reported around 160 stores worldwide [4]. In 2019 it opened a flagship at 14 Savile Row in London, anchoring the brand to the street most associated with British tailoring.

The move into beauty came in 2022, when the company launched its first international perfume line for men, beginning with two fragrances, Essential and Bespoke [5].

Hackett has changed hands several times. In 2005, Richemont sold the company to Torreal S.C.R., S.A., a Spanish investment firm [4]. In 2015, M1 Group and L Capital Asia acquired the business, which was then part of the Pepe Jeans Group [4].

Sources disagree on the current parent. The AWWG group (All We Wear Group), which presents itself as Hackett's owning group, announced the fragrance line in 2022 [5]; AWWG is the Madrid-based group that the former Pepe Jeans Group was rebranded into. Wikipedia's entry still lists M1 Group and L Capital Asia as owners, reflecting the 2015 transaction [4]. The more recent published source points to AWWG as the present owner.

Hackett positions itself as a British house that blends traditional, Savile Row–influenced style with modern cuts. According to the company, its fragrance collection represents "a perfect balance between heritage details and modern city life," carrying the brand's British heritage into men's scent [5]. The line is pitched at the higher end, described by its owning group as offering "premium design with high-end quality."

Within beauty, Hackett's footprint is its men's fragrance line, produced under licence by Tailored Perfumes, a Spanish perfume house, within the AWWG group [5]. The 2022 launch was fronted by Jenson Button, the British Formula 1 world champion, as the face of the collection.

The two launch fragrances set the line's range. Essential, created by perfumer Tim Gage, is built on English lavender with pink pepper and bergamot, over amber, tonka bean and patchouli, and is described by the company as a "polished, classic, and timeless Fougere fragrance with a modern British twist" [5]. Bespoke, by perfumer Christian Provenzano, pairs oak-aged rum with vetiver, leather, amber and tobacco, characterised as a "made-to-measure Woody fragrance that encapsulates modern masculinity" [5]. Later additions include Absolute, along with Marine Blue and Nightwalk listed on the brand's own fragrance page.

Editorial coverage of the fragrances has been limited, coming largely from menswear and grooming outlets rather than mainstream beauty press. A 2023 review by the men's-style writer Carl Thompson described Absolute as "a celebration of contrasts," aimed at "the modern man who is as comfortable in the boardroom as he is in a high-end cocktail lounge," and referred to "the renowned house of Hackett" [6].

Hackett remains an active, global menswear house, with its licensed men's fragrance line current and expanding; its beauty presence is confined to fragrance. The fragrance category continues to be updated, with newer editions following the 2022 launch.