Duchamp

Duchamp built its name on bold, colourful ties, and that is still the heart of its appeal for shoppers who want something with personality rather than a quiet stripe. The ties are characterised by bold colours and the so-called futuristic designs the brand introduced in 1992. If you want a tie that makes a statement, Duchamp is squarely aimed at you.

Duchamp positions itself as a British luxury house, having started in the rarefied world of cufflinks before expanding its accessories. Its reputation rests on bold design and finish across ties, cufflinks and tailoring. As with any brand that has changed hands over the years, it is worth judging a specific piece on its own merits.

Duchamp first specialised in cufflinks, then branched into ties in 1992 with the bold colours and futuristic designs that became its signature. From there it grew to offer shirts, suits, jackets and socks. By 2011 the company claimed to sell more than 60,000 ties a year.

Founder Mitchell Jacobs named the company after the French artist Marcel Duchamp. His reasoning, in his own words: Duchamp turned everyday objects into art and I turned everyday icons of men's fashion into wearable art. The name signals the brand's intent to treat menswear staples as design objects.

Duchamp is a British men's luxury clothing and accessories company founded in 1989. It was started by Mitchell Jacobs, a former buyer at the London retailer Browns.

Duchamp was founded in 1989 by Mitchell Jacobs, who had been a buyer at Browns before launching the brand. He built a wholesale trade and later opened a small boutique in Notting Hill in 1998. The brand traces its design instinct back to his idea of turning everyday menswear icons into wearable art.

Duchamp started narrowly, specialising in cufflinks, then added ties in 1992. After Jacobs established a wholesale trade and opened a Notting Hill boutique in 1998, the brand kept expanding, opening a Regent Street store and introducing shirts in 2006. By 2011 it offered ties, cufflinks, suits, jackets, socks and shirts.

The founder sold the company in 2006 to its management and the private-equity fund Kcaj LLP. As part of that change, Marc Psarolis became part-owner and chief executive. The same year, the brand opened a 750-square-foot store on Regent Street and introduced shirts.

From the moment Duchamp moved into ties in 1992, the look has been about bold colours and futuristic designs rather than conservative classics. It is a deliberately expressive, dandyish style that puts colour and pattern front and centre. If your taste runs to statement neckwear, that is precisely the niche Duchamp occupies.

A tie or a pair of cufflinks is the natural entry point, since these are the categories that built the brand. Start with a bold tie if you want the full Duchamp signature, or cufflinks for a smaller, well-finished statement. Both reflect the founder's idea of menswear as wearable art.

Because Duchamp ties lean colourful and pattern-forward, the trick is to let the tie be the focal point and keep the rest restrained. Pair a bold tie with a plain shirt and a simple suit so the colour reads as intentional rather than chaotic. Cufflinks can echo the tie's palette for a pulled-together, dandyish finish.