30th October 2012
The Pink Lion, a pub for the sporting gentleman, brought to you by Thomas Pink…
POP-UP venues have been all the rage of late, whether it be restaurants or couture fashion houses. But a pop-up pub...The Pink Lion has probably got to be the first!
In honour of iconic Jermyn Street outfitters, Thomas Pink unveiling its British & Irish Lions Collection as the new Official Outfitters for the British & Irish Lions, Tuesday evening saw the glamourous launch of The Pink Lion in St James.
A host of former British & Irish Lions arrived to join Lions Head Coach, Warren Gatland, Team Manager Andy Irvine, Chairman Gerald Davies, the Lions Committee and the hosts, Thomas Pink at the bijou exclusive venue in King Street, including England captain Lewis Moody, Harry Potter actor and TV presenter, Martin Bayfield, and Celebrity Masterchef winner Phil Vickery.
Martin Bayfield, Lewis Moody, Warren Gatland, Andy Irvine, Phil Vickery
The actual collection was an absolute triumph, and the British & Irish Lions will be stealing the show in their number ones and number twos in Hong Kong and Australia. Every element of the collection is exquisite in its own right, from the red and navy archive rugby print on the blazers, to the red stitch detailing on the lapels; from the 19th century illustrations of rugby players in action, complete with the rugby technical terms of the day on the tie and scarf, to the impeccable fine detailed gold cufflinks. But the pièce de résistance has to be the black velvet smoking jacket.
Warren Gatland did a magnificent job of acting the pub landlord, despite still being on crutches after falling off a railing cleaning windows (as he corrected me last evening - there was not a ladder in sight as had been mooted in the press) that led to two shattered ankles. As we shared a small libation, he assured me he is now truly on the mend after another recent operation, and will be announcing the rest of his coaching team on 13th December in Edinburgh.
But it was not just rugby stars that were there in force at The Pink Lion. The evening was lit up with Olympic Silver medallist rower, Alex Partridge and Olympic Gold medal winning skeleton racer, Amy Williams. Boxing world champion, Chris Eubank, known to be a dandy dresser and thus sporting Pink, was also present, and will be seen again at Wednesday's Question of Sport hosted by Matt Dawson and Josh Lewsey.
A fantastic evening was had by all, having kicked off in delightful fashion by Thomas Pink CEO, Jonathan Heilbron. And the revelry continues for the rest of this week, to which you are all invited.
