Designers are often asked who their “woman” or “man” is—it’s always been more than that for Daniel Gayle and James Bosley of Denzil Patrick, the London brand now in its fifth year. The designer and artistic director interpolate the aesthetics of each season’s cast of characters (from motorsport racers and medieval knights to teddy girls and Cockney Pearly Kings) with how their family and community actually express themselves. The brand takes its name from Gayle’s two grandfathers, and for fall 2026, he and Bosley imagined how these impeccably dressed, once-new-to-London Londoners would dress themselves in the city today.
At their gallery-set presentation, Gayle said that, with the assurance of a commercially successful pre-fall collection of classics and signature styles, they felt in a good place to create a smaller, tighter offering: “We don’t have to make people understand us now—we sat down and asked, ‘What do we want to be?’”
“We benefit from being a small movement, and we’ve established strong house codes,” Bosley added. “It’s nourishing to have set structures, move within our own space, and be creative and free to play within.”
Tailoring remained strong and precise. (The button-adorned and mother-of-pearl-studded suits of last season have garnered several bespoke orders.) Denzil Patrick celebrates—and invites—peacocking, most literally in gorpy red jackets with feathers splaying from the cuffs and a molded feathered cravat tucked into a sharply tailored Japanese crepe suit. (They are devoted to a Japanese supplier, who understands the perfection of imperfect, lived-in fabrics.)
Silhouettes and technical experimentations played with the brand’s ongoing tension between the Edwardian dandy and the raffish, young, modern Londoner: There was a sporty nylon jacket with tailcoats lined with sumptuous black velvet, and a chunky rib knit with embroidered appliqué plastron panels. They sourced retro carpets and photographed them for prints, recontextualizing the beauty of a grandparent’s front room. Another swirling floral fabric was made by spray-painting through lace curtains, decorating strong-shouldered, sharp-lapeled suits studded with military buttons and mom’s jewelry box–scavenged brooches, as well as curved lightweight zip-ups.
Despite the big brand ambassadorship complex, Denzil Patrick continues to attract a cool red-carpet crew. Off the back of the “Superfine” exhibition, their work was added to the Costume Institute’s permanent collection, a full-circle moment for Gayle, paying homage to his Black dandy grandfather. Their designs move just as easily through the WNBA tunnel and Silicon Valley as on the step-and-repeat in South London.
