The UK is just about the only place in the world where you can walk down a high street and be confident of seeing a golden eagle. Not the 1.8-metre wingspan kind that inhabit the Scottish Highlands – but the smaller, embroidered ones that inhabit the chests of polo shirts, sitting just beneath a neck label that reads: Lyle & Scott.
Lyle & Scott is a brand almost everyone who has lived in the UK has some history with – whether that’s owning your own polo, inheriting a vintage cardigan from a grandparent, or simply clocking that little eagle on the front of your dad’s mate’s shirt at a barbecue. It’s an intrinsic part of the fabric of Britain and, although the brand has existed for an astonishing 152 years, it somehow feels older – as if it’s always been there.
The now-iconic eagle first properly spread its wings in 1967, when the brand introduced it to the world of golf. Stitched neatly onto V-neck cardigans, it was worn by golfing royalty such as Jack Nicklaus and Greg Norman during victories at St Andrews and Turnberry. From there, everything began to take flight.
A large part of why Lyle & Scott landed so gracefully was its storied heritage – people had seen the eagle emblazoned on the chests of champions lifting trophies on immaculate fairways. But what truly carried it beyond its native circles was its reinvention on the terraces, where the brand found a new audience – and a far louder life.
By the 1980s, fashion, football and music were firmly intertwined, and Lyle & Scott found itself at the centre of the melting pot – without ever really intending to. Flocks of eagles appeared on matchdays up and down the country, and true to the era’s spirit of one-upmanship, everyone was on the hunt for the rarest polo they could find.
Thanks to terrace culture, Lyle & Scott had become a collectable commodity – and unlike the birds that inhabit the Scottish Highlands, this eagle was anything but endangered – it was everywhere.
Once the dust settled on the ’80s and ’90s, Lyle & Scott had cemented itself as one of Great Britain’s great success stories. The eagle now hibernated peacefully in the wardrobes of golf enthusiasts, retired ravers and terrace totalitarians across the country.
But the beauty of Lyle & Scott is that the eagle is constantly reawakened and reinterpreted by new crowds. Vintage enthusiasts dust off their dad’s golden-era Shetland V-necks. Northern Soul clubs glow with girls tucking in their mum’s finest polo. Playgrounds turn eagle-embroidered shell jackets into makeshift goalposts. Lyle & Scott is continually rediscovered – and it feels like one of those brands that will never truly disappear.
There’s a familiarity to Lyle & Scott – something steady, reassuring and universal. It got us thinking: what better way to capture that feeling than through the lives of others? So that’s what we did. We spent a few hours wandering Manchester with some of Proper’s closest friends, learning about each person’s connection to the eagle along the way.
Unsurprisingly, everyone had something. Stories of polos substituted into school uniforms. Cardigans lost on nights out. Shell jackets worn like a second skin through teenage years. Everybody had some relationship with Lyle & Scott – and felt completely at ease with the eagle perched on their chest. Which, as it turns out, is pretty important when you’re photographing a campaign inspired by street photography.
So our closing sentiment is this: it doesn’t matter whether you’re a pharmacist, a yoga instructor, a photographer, a footwear technician, a barista or a music production student – Lyle & Scott is for everyone. Over the course of its history, the brand has been reinterpreted time and again: on terraces, in clubs, on fairways and on high streets.
Because when it comes down to it, brands are only as good as the people wearing them. And in Lyle & Scott’s case – with an entire country connected to that eagle – they’re about as good as it gets.
Take a look at our gallery below for Lyle & Scott’s ‘Somebody Else’s Day’ campaign, and visit Lyle & Scott to see their latest collection
