We’ve been not-so-subtly hinting for a year or two now that the quickest, most surefire way to get leading man style is to embrace the knit polo. It can make a swimsuit and sandals feel cosmopolitan, chill out a swanky suit, or do anything in between. Which helps explain why it’s also become the unofficial uniform of stars looking to stay swanky but comfortable while navigating a calendar that’s wall-to-wall with public appearances. Here in 2024, every menswear brand, from storied fashion houses to revitalized mall icons, is turning out a knit polo or ten. But no brand has contributed more to the knit polo boom than relatively fresh British label King & Tuckfield, whose sustainably made throwback styles have taken the brand from the founder’s side hustle to a red carpet staple.
The list of celebrities who’ve endorsed King & Tuckfield’s knitwear in recent memory reads like the cast of a summer blockbuster: The Rock, Donald Glover, Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, and Tom Holland, among others. “A lot of these celebrities, they’re cool, but they’re also very classic, and they’re not going to throw on things that they don’t feel confident wearing,” founder Stacey Wood says of why leading men can’t seem to get enough of the brand’s retro-inflected polos, splashy cardigans, and slinky sweaters. King & Tuckfield’s catalog reveals Wood’s knack for retro-influenced stripes, patterns, and textures that look bold but not try-hard. “They have this vintage feel, but they don’t feel costumey,” says stylist Mark Avery, who’s been outfitting Ryan Gosling in King & Tuckfield since 2022. “She’s just making stuff that no one else is making. When you see it you want to pick it up right away.”
THE RISE OF A KING
Inspired by her late ballerina grandmother (Joan King) and World War II paratrooper father (Graham Tuckfield), Wood originally conceived of King & Tuckfield while working in wholesale for some of the world’s biggest labels, which helped her learn the ins and outs of running a clothing business.
That was 2016, when giant logos and ripped skinny jeans still owned the market. In some early seasons, King & Tuckfield’s men’s collection didn’t receive a single wholesale order. She stuck with it—even as she and her husband had conversations about shutting things down. “One more season—we have to do one more season,” she remembers telling him. Then, in July 2020, at the height of Covid, Wood received a string of emails from fashion and lifestyle agency Brooklyn PR (which is actually based in Los Angeles). Busy and unsure if the emails were legit, she waited to reply. Luckily not too long: a few months later, Michael B. Jordan appeared on the cover of People Magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” issue wearing a King & Tuckfield knit polo.
Sales didn’t blow up, but that Michael B. moment started a wave of celebrity guys stepping out in the brand’s knit polos. A wave that broke big in 2022, when Chris Evans wore one of the label’s geometric patterned polos while portraying a chiseled, wise-cracking psychopath in 2022’s The Gray Man. The style was from a couple seasons past and hadn’t originally sold well, so Wood reproduced 50 additional pieces. She underestimated Captain America’s pull: the shirts sold out right away, as did subsequent restocks. And those sales affected King & Tuckfield in other ways—Wood noticed customers kept sizing down to match Evans’ slim fit, so she introduced a more classic cut polo to the collection.
THE STARS OF THE KINGDOM
For Spring-Summer 2024, Wood once again tapped her favorite source of inspiration: a photo of her father walking down an oceanside promenade in a quintessential 1950s fit consisting of a loose, striped button-up tucked gracefully into flowy pleated trousers. “I only knew my father for seven years, but from what I’ve seen, he always had this elegant grace, but with attitude,” she says, noting that the striped knit polo directly inspired by the photo has become one of the season’s best sellers. Every piece in the collection is made using ethically sourced textiles and has design touches evoked by that era—maybe stripes, or a sepia-tinged color scheme, or a subtle texture.
And soon you might be able to try one of King & Tuckfield’s pieces in person. While the brand currently has a pop-up shop in England through June, Wood’s eyeing Hollywood for an upcoming outpost. Whether it’s the “Chris Evans polo” (or the Gosling polo, or The Rock polo, or something else) that brings L.A. customers in the doors, Wood and her husband will both be there for the pop-up’s duration to make sure every shopper gets the superstar treatment.
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