Michael Drake

A self-taught textile designer who built his career in the British accessories trade, Michael Drake co-founded Drake's in London's Haberdasher Street in 1977 with Isabel Dickson, initially specialising in printed silk scarves and ties for export to Italy, Japan and the United States. Under his direction the workshop developed a reputation for hand-frayed cashmere scarves and English-made ties supplying many of the world's leading luxury houses on a white-label basis. He retired from the business in 2010, by which point Drake's had begun selling under its own name and was expanding from accessories into shirting, tailoring and the full ready-to-wear programme later anchored by the Mayfair flagship.