Who Is Kit Blake
How It All Started…
Kit Blake founders Richard Wheat and Chris Modoo first met — of all places — on the way to an Arsenal football game. The pair were among a wider group of acquaintances, and Richard (an Everton fan), thought that Chris was the best dressed football fan he had ever seen. They became friends when they realised they shared another passion away from the terraces: men’s tailoring.
Richard’s expertise in the world of business matched Chris’ history of designing tailored clothes for London’s Savile Row. They decided to join forces when they realised that trousers for men were typically the poor relation in a wardrobe: an after-thought, too skinny or badly fitting with many men often putting more importance on the “top half” than their bottom half. They decided to focus on overhauling the trouser segment to create the perfect trouser — with an aim to create the best possible versions available on the market, improving a product that had been unloved for too long while also offering a simple but cost effective upgrade to any man’s wardrobe.
With Chris as the designer and Richard developing the brand, the first proper Kit Blake trousers were born. After a few years focusing on road-testing with Richard living exclusively in Kit Blake samples, and with more men enjoying handsomely-made flannel trousers, our team has expanded and changed. Chris might have gone on to pursue other projects, but he has left us in great hands, with a new group of passionate team members coming on board to continue to develop the brand.
Kit Blake still retain that small artisan approach to our collections, as well as the same philosophy that makes Kit Blake so appealing to our customers: that everyone—and we mean everyone—deserves a pair of stylish and comfortable trousers in their life.
Who Is Kit Blake?
Kit Blake is arguably London’s best kept secret in the menswear industry. The name is composed of Kit, being a shorthand for Chris, and Blake, the first street he lived on. Kit Blake became a pseudonym Chris would use while making staff alterations in Savile Row. With staff working on the Row having to wait months to get their own clothes altered, Chris had found an innovative way to avoid this. He used the pseudonym Kit Blake, ensuring that his clothes were altered quickly and efficiently as if it were for a customer rather than himself.
Our name might be creative, but everything about the way we make trousers remains authentic. The original vision was to create trousers that could be worn as separates, in British shapes with a dash of Italian character, and made by both British and Italian craftspeople. Our vision remains the same, and we have used years of learnings to offer the best ready-to-wear trousers on the market, while we keep investing in customer experience.
How Kit Blake Trousers Are Made
Our founder Richard continues to travel between Italy and the UK to test new fabrics and shapes. A smart pair of trousers would be nothing without a team of experts, the finest materials and skilled hands. Echoing our values for tailor-made, ethical craft, the materials are mainly sourced from Northern Italy, including from a family-run mill in Biella in Piedmont, at the foot of the Alps, which has a weaving industry that dates back to 1245. We also source our fabrics from Huddersfield, in the UK and from Northern Ireland. Once our cloths are ready, they are sent to a specialist trouser workshop in Puglia, where for generations another family has stitched together clothing using traditional methods. The end product is a marriage between British design and Italian and British craft: Kit Blake.
We make trousers — and now shorts — for all occasions in a man’s life; not just for the office or a wedding ceremony. It isn’t only flannel, either. Because trousers are at the heart of what we do, we continue to innovate with other fabrics and textures like linen, seersucker or cotton gabardine. In the future, we will also offer chinos trousers, still made in Italy. We make trousers that have impact.
Our Styles
As the years have progressed, Kit Blake has developed distinct, permanent styles to suit all men’s needs. None of our trousers have belt-loops but are designed to be self-supporting with the aid of buckle and strap side adjusters for an elegant look. All our trousers also have buttons inside the waistband to wear braces, and they are rubberised to prevent your tucked-in shirt from moving during the day. Read on to learn which style is made for you.
Our classic double-pleated style boasts a higher rise, full-cut thigh with slight taper to the hem. The Aleks is our most generous fit.
The Grant trousers are based on our Aleks but with a more pronounced taper from the thigh to the hem. They also have double-pleats and boast a higher rise.
The Caine is our flat-fronted model and is slim but not skinny. Cut with a moderate rise, it has side adjusters, slanted pockets and a handy fob pocket cut into the waistband.
The Duke is our single-pleated version of the Aleks, with a slightly more tapered leg due to the single pleat.
The single deep pleat faces outwards in what we used to call the “Italian” way and gives a sharp, clean definition to the front crease without excess bagginess. Ideal for cautious dressers or conservative business environments, they are a good introduction to pleated comfortable trousers.
Have any pressing questions? You can get in touch with the Kit Blake team at enquiries@kitblake.com.
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