The Beautiful Humility of Margaret Howell, Patron Saint of Patient Fashion
Luxury is not a designer label, says Margaret Howell. It's a perfect fit, the perfect fabric. It's so simple and so obvious a thesis that Howell hasn't had to refine a word since she first proposed it in 1970.
Howell was the first and arguably the best contemporary designer to recognize the beauty of well-cut, considered clothing.
People wear clothes every day. What if someone treated those very clothes with the same attention to detail that most designers pay to "fashion?" In fact, what if the quotidian was, yes, "fashion?"
The genius part is simply that Margaret Howell realized this decades before anyone else, and has continued epitomizing it ever since.
I was reminded of this particular truism when first glimpsing the Margaret Howell Fall/Winter 2025 collection, yet another plainly gorgeous assortment of woven shirting, wool tailoring, thick scarves, and thicker outerwear.
It's vintage Margaret Howell — literally, with some styles pulled from Howell's archives.
But it ought to look terrifically familiar to those who follow the many young craft-conscious brands defining the booming market for what we call "good clothes." Knowingly or not, this new generation is born of the Margaret Howell school of good taste.
The British designer has always been a familiar touchstone but, suddenly, her influence has never been more obvious.
Except, maybe, to Howell herself.
"As for influence, I’m not sure I’d frame it like that," she tells me. "But it’s always nice to see others embracing similar ideas and principles. I do take note of what’s happening and admire the work of makers who approach design in a thoughtful way. It’s encouraging to see others value quality and craft."
Howell still oversees the Margaret Howell brand, which has patiently evolved into a sprawling network of modest excellence.
There's men's and women's mainline, the increasingly adventurous but always excellent MHL sub-label, and seasonal collaborations with partners as disparate as sportswear company Mizuno and heritage outerwear imprint Mackintosh.
There's also a massive Margaret Howell business in Japan, where the nearly 80-year-old designer's name is applied to everything from cafes to homeware. It's quite far-reaching stuff for a brand as humble as Howell's, though it also makes sense. Japan loves heritage. Japan loves quality. Howell epitomizes both.
It comes back to the classics, like the "archival" styles in Howell's Fall/Winter 2025 line.
"I often return to archive pieces when something feels particularly well made, well proportioned, or simply has a quality that stands the test of time," she explains. "Probably because it’s a continuation of the same approach. It is not about a theme, it’s about making functional clothes with a contemporary feel."
Good clothes never die.
Howell, the very definition of a designer's designer, had one indelible moment of crossover fame, which came when Jack Nicholson famously opted to wear his own clothes for Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, which included one of Howell's red corduroy jackets.
It's a great piece, imminently wearable and timeless.
It's also clever, twisting a tricky shade (red) and textile (corduroy) into a versatile layering piece neither loud nor stuffy, a quintessentially quiet Margaret Howell miracle.
When Howell revives that jacket style, which she only does on occasion, she does not reissue identical imitations. Famous or not, every garment pulled from Howell's archives is updated to suit the tastes of the day. The garment's soul, the thing that made it so good in the first place, remains untouched even if its pockets are shifted or sleeves widened.
"When we revisit an archive style, it is considered carefully, adjusting fit, fabric, or detail so it sits naturally within the collection rather than feeling like a reproduction," she says. "It is never about nostalgia, more about recognizing good design and bringing it forward in a way that still feels relevant."
Little wonder that the cadre of young designers creating quietly quality-first clothes so overtly recalls Howell's oeuvre. Whether they're conscious of them or not, Howell's mantras remain lodestars for them all.
"Good fabric, good shape, and an ease in wear: Those things do not date," she says. "In the end, it’s about making things that stand the test of time.
