How my favorite designer ended up being featured in Hobbs and Shaw

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  Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham star in Hobbs and Shaw. But so does the work of designer Errolson Hugh. [credit: Universal Pictures ]

Have you been to see Hobbs and Shaw yet? It’s the latest installment from the Fast and Furious franchise, a spinoff starring Vanessa Kirby, Jason Statham, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and Idris Elba, and it’s pretty darn good as far as mindless summer action flicks go. Now, I know what you’re thinking: he only really likes it because it’s got some cool cars. But here’s a secret—I’m far more in love with the way everyone is dressed in the movie.

Much of the credit for that goes to Sarah Evelyn, the film’s costume designer. But there’s another influence at work in the wardrobe department, that of techwear luminary Errolson Hugh. Hugh has been called “your favorite designer’s favorite designer,” although more recently you might know him from having started that bottle cap challenge earlier this summer.

It’s fair to say Hugh’s attitude towards design, particularly with his label Acronym, is uncompromising. In fact, it reminds me a lot of Gordon Murray’s approach to designing the McLaren F1. Like Murray, Hugh’s work is heavy with the latest technology—it is called techwear after all. But instead of ultra lightweight composites (the McLaren F1 was the first production road car to be made completely from carbon fiber), it’s cutting edge fabrics from companies like Schoeller, Gore, and Nextec.