Archer Adams’ Gothic Umbrellas.

Fashion bloggers from the four corners of the globe might be cashing in on high-profile deals of late – from Swede bloggess Elin Kling for H&M to Tavi interviewing ska seductress turned pop queen Gwen Stefani for Teen Vogue – but it’s not really news, is it? I mean, if you’re a fashion blogger, you are – despite what several members of the fashion Illuminati might maintain – already in possession of a role within the industry.

Music industry managers, however, aren’t your usual potential fashion designer fare. London-based Archer Adams bucks the trend. Having spent 12 years managing the careers of hit songwriters, record producers and recording artists, he decided to turn his hand to the management of threads rather than tunes.

And if these umbrellas are anything to go by, then it’s working out pretty well for him.

 A mixture of Gothic aesthetics and luxury materials, this razzy range features silver-plated heads in the guise of various creatures (from a lion to a snake) and macabrely opulent iconography like a skull and lizard skin. What I love is the quintessential Britishness of these, that Victorian atmosphere that reminds you of Gothic novels by Shelley and and Louis Stevenson, and the penchant of the era for grotesque oddities from instruments for torture to dead animal bodies (for anatomical purposes only, of course…)

Almost all of Archer Adams’ product is manufactured within the UK and the brand actively combats forced fashion cycles in an attempt to offer something that bit more unique, and undoubtedly timeless. 

These are available both online and from the Archer Adams store (2 Chiltern St, London W1U 7PR) at £148.00 each, should you conquer your fear of fondling the heads of silver snakes.