// No F'Luke 1977

24th May 2011 13:31:22

Luke, or Luke Roper as he is known by night is somewhat of an enigmatic designer. Hailing from the outskirts of Walsall’s suburbia he had a kind of picket fenced introduction to tailoring when his mother sewed the first few seeds from which he grew; she was after all a wedding dress maker. Still very much the family man along side the success of the Luke brands, wife Tracy and baby boy Rui will no doubt keep him grounded and in toe. You can tell Luke Roper volunteers himself willingly to his roots too, punctuated by living opposite his old primary school and in keeping the same circle of friends he grew up with. In contrast there is an opaque fascination in celebrity, but nothing crude or too showy, I guess when you have the rich and famous, usually both knitted together, appearing quite frequently in Luke attire, or nipping in the Manchester flagship store you would want to take some pictures and say, ‘yeah i made this.’ There are a few of the great and the good on Luke 1977’s website, Dizzee Rascal, Simon Rix (Kaiser Chief), are a couple in the sparkling collection of images.

Luke Roper first picked up the tailor’s scissors almost as an inevitability growing up surrounded by patterns, materials and with ‘stuff’ going on. It was at college though when they were put to work proper; as Roper explains the club scene in those days was much more dressy so he opened his arms to making shirts. Luke soon found that he had ‘the skills to pay the bills,’ so to speak and he made the long sleeved button ups for himself and friends. The garments were embroiled with the similar close knit attention he adorns his roots, even now he has a watchful eye if maybe a little beady eye over the manufacture process following his designs from conception to completion and racked in store. Roper has been quoted in interviews as seeing each detail as his own until is purchased by Joe public or maybe one of the brands famous friends. But yes, in the early days he got the knack with such fluency a sort list of friends lucky enough to have a bespoke shirt would be ready at the door every Friday to pick up the newly preened garment, just in time for the weekend.

As Luke brand grew the natural steps was for the increasing torque to throw out a diffusion or two and as to be expected a jeans wear range was soon spun. The current collection is said to be felt by retro and vintage hand, silhouettes of Woodstock and the Isle of White and with colour. And colour there is plenty, Smethwick and Fox and Hounds polo tees coming in pale but distinct primarys. There is attention to detail too; I guess you would expect this by now though. The Blue Sea Bass Shirt has brand logo thoughtfully placed on the shoulder and the buttons are stitched precisely in a cruciform.

So if you want a piece of modern history with a little bit of family values and if it isn’t too corny, friendship..? Yes, I think that was maybe a bit too flowery, but anyways take a look on Netclothing.com or in store at Pilot for what we think is a pretty terrific range.