How to dress like a Goldman Sachs MD in the intense heat: Wear a suit lined with goat hair

It's warm in Europe. London has experienced its hottest June on record. Illegal swimmers have invaded ponds on Hampstead Heath. JPMorgan has relaxed its return to the office requirements. Banks have air-conditioned offices, but the exterior does not have aircon. Sweatiness is an issue.

Ian Powell is the man that senior bankers and traders in London turn to to avoid perspiration stains. Powell doesn't sell aircon. He sells suits. Exceptionally good, bespoke tailored suits. Such suits do not come cheaply. £10k per garment is not out of the question.

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Powell's clients are managing directors in banks, and partners in law or consulting firms. He visits them discreetly at work to measure up. He comes back for fittings. Windowless rooms are popular; no one wants to strip down to their underwear where their colleagues might see.

When you make managing director (MD) "it is time" for this treatment, says Powell, who has dressed hundreds of - mostly - men in London. A bespoke suit imbues its wearer with an indecipherable "feeling," he adds. If you stand up in front of a town hall meeting, or if you visit a major client while wearing one, you will know that you are sartorially immaculate. 

You will also know that your shirt won't be stained with sweat. Modern suits are increasingly made from lightweight manmade fibres that don't breathe well. Even if they're made from natural fibres like wool, contemporary off-the-peg suits are typically glued to an internal lining called a 'canvas.' This glue is often at its thickest around the midriff where the body loses heat. You are wrapped in an impermeable membrane in 35°C. 

Powell's suits aren't like this. Constructed entirely from natural fibres and handcrafted, there is no glue. The best canvases are made from specially sourced goat, horse or sheep wool, says Powell. "Good fabrics take a long time to make," he tells us. "If you wear a fabric created using wool from a sheep on a Mongolian hillside that that's dealt with life in the snow and the heat, you know that it will adjust better to extremes of temperature."

Wearing an 11oz open-weave suit with this kind of internal canvas can keep you cool even in the sort of heat that's suddenly become the London norm. Powell says he recently wore such a suit to a wedding in the UK and did not submit to perspiration. You can even wear these suits in Saudi, he tells us. It's not about the weight, but how they are "put together."   

Powell operates entirely by word of mouth. If it's your time, you might encounter him. Many of the senior bankers he dresses are unaware that they have him in common, although some have spotted his signature red lining in the wilds of Fleet Street. They are the goats of finance. Powell knows them well: "Outside of your family, there are only two people in your life who touch you. Your tailor and your hairdresser," he reflects.     

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