The Lifestyle Aquatic
Alfred Dunhill was a man of unwavering tastes—specifically tobacco, cars, and luxury goods. In the 1920s, he combined his passions by launching Dunhill’s Motorities (a mash-up of ‘motorist’ and ‘priorities’) to sell everything from car horns to overcoats. By the 1950s, he shifted focus to create artful gadgets for smoking, which led to the invention of the Aquarium lighter. The one-of-a-kind creations are made from Perspex and depict undersea motifs—all handmade by artist Ben Shillingford. Though the lighters have become increasingly rare (pieces now easily fetch thousands of dollars), their famed imagery has been reworked for a modern audience on a collection of lounge shirts, swim trunks, and leather pieces. The range of hues evokes the season perfectly, such as a bomber jacket in bright sky-blue and a satchel in sea-green.
