The shirt shown here is cut from a very fine quality of poplin produced by the best English manufacturer, Thomas Mason. Perfectly thin and soft, this fabric was made from Egyptian cotton and washed thirty times after weaving for that silky, cool feel. Particular attention has been paid to its matte black finishing and dyeing, and its buttons are in the best quality mother-of-pearl, the one coming from Australia. The dyeing of the buttons in black was a real challenge, but the bet is successful! Luxurious detail, the label is here replaced by tone-on-tone embroidery. This is a hollington classic for lovers of really black black.
Late 19th-century Russia and its artists fascinated Patric Hollington. It was their dress elegance that inspired him to design this garment. The Tchekhov shirt pays homage to his favourite writer, playwright and short story writer.
Surrounded by artist friends with whom he built a rich correspondence, Anton Chekhov fondly described life in the Russian countryside of his time, fuelled by his travels and his motto: “simple and true.” In the photos that exist of the writer, he wears shirts with stand-up collar brightened with a chic ascot tie of colourful silk.
The Chekhov shirt took place in the hollington collections in the 2000s. By creating it, Patric wanted a very dressed shirt to enhance his outings at the opera, a shirt that could accompany a tuxedo while keeping the subtle and comfortable hollington note.
To meet these requirements, he decides to keep the Nehru collar and the straight cut of the classic hollington shirt but, on the front, he applies pleats. He thus adapts the traditional dress codes of elegant shirts with plastron and makes the Chekhov a real hollington shirt.
With the button tab ending here as elsewhere to the mid-body, Patric abandons the plastron and pleats the entire front of the shirt. The hollington back pleat, which allows a full range of motion, is preserved.
The Tchekhov shirt, always produced in sober, dark and very high-quality cotton, has become a classic of the hollington brand. And as for Patric elegance is hidden in the details, its buttons are in mother-of-pearl, tone on tone.