John Smedley will always be in vogue | Letters

Tim Heavisides recalls his fondness for the historic fashion firm and his enduring attachment to a black jumper Re your report ( Fashion and tradition: how John Smedley is innovating in a tough market, 1 November ), I was fortunate to grow up with a mum who was interested in good quality clothes and fashion, and who, when I was 17, bought me a black rollneck top.

Think Roger Moore. Think Illya Kuryakin (The Man from U. N. C. L. E. ). Think of me in the lower sixth at a rural grammar school in Wiltshire, who missed going to the Bath blues festival at Shepton Mallet in 1970. I also missed the Isle of Wight ferry once. I recall going on a school trip to see the film Kanał by the Polish director Andrzej…