Drakes

Soft shouldered and unlined, Drake’s three-button tweed ‘Games’ blazer may not cater to the outdoorsy world its name alludes to, but it comes super-soft and lightweight.

But then the philosophy behind Drake’s has always been about bringing a relaxed, slightly bohemian air to classic menswear – established as tie-maker in 1977 by Michael Drake, its range of scarves, shawls and handkerchiefs would expand to encompass soft shirting, knitwear and, yes, Italian-made tailored pieces too.

Margaret Howell

British designer Margaret Howell has, over her almost 50 year career, taken menswear classics and given them an overhaul in softness, and that’s every bit the case for her lightly-lined tweed jackets.

While there are more country cloths – a Glen check Harris tweed, for example – you’re more likely to find tweed in more urban shades of charcoal, dark navy or black and employing a specially-woven featherweight weave.

Hackett

Jeremy Hackett co-founded the eponymous brand in 1983 initially by dealing in vintage British suiting – and the pieces that tended to have survived best over the years were, he noted, made of tweed.

The company – always keen to play up its British roots – became a surefire supporter of the fabric, offering a variety of blazers in it every autumn/winter season, as well as waistcoats, caps and – more unusually – tweed-fronted zipped sweaters.

Cordings

It’s probably better known for its covert cloth – used for its famed covert coat. And its style, since 1839, is definitely more country than town – expect plenty of browns and tans, and a riding coat cut in its jackets. The company even still makes capes and shooting breeks – baggy trousers fastened with straps just below the knee.

This is where Henry Stanley – as in Stanley and Livingstone – shopped. But then it’s also where a Firley tweed jacket caught the eye of the man who would come to be Cording’s co-owner and part-time design director. And that man was Eric Clapton. Seriously.