Product Focus: The Lament for Icarus Pocket Square
Our latest product focus covers the timeless and beautiful The Lament for Icarus Pocket Square and silk Jacket Lining. This classic work is from British painter Herbert James Draper, an artist renowned for his work on Greek mythology.
Did You Know?: Icarus’s wings are based on the bird-of-paradise pattern, and surprisingly, Icarus’s wings appear fully intact in the piece contrary to the myth where the wax melted and Icarus fell, flapping his bare arms.
The Lament For Icarus Pocket Square
ABOUT THE PAINTING
This particular painting depicts the dead Icarus, surrounded by lamenting sea-nymphs. In the classic story, Icarus' father, Daedalus, created wings made of wax so that he and his son could escape their island prison on Crete. But, overcome by pride and ignoring all warnings, Icarus flies too close to the sun, melting his wings and plunging to his death.
Draper's use of the male body for the projection of subjective emotion is a common feature of late-Victorian painting and sculpture. At the same time, the rays of the setting sun on distant cliffs emphasise the transience of time. Draper applied liquid light effects in his painting style, which creates subtle highlights throughout the work.
The beautiful and empathic painting of Icarus is by far Draper's most famous picture. During his working life, he belonged to the generation of British artists influenced by French Impressionism, but Draper devoted himself to Victorian artists' historical and literary themes such as Edward Burne-Jones.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Herbert James Draper (1863 – 1920) was an English Classicist painter whose career began in the Victorian era. Born in London, Herbert was the son of a jeweller named Henry Draper and his wife, Emma. He was educated at Bruce Castle School in Tottenham and then went on to study art at the Royal Academy.
He undertook several educational trips to Rome and Paris between 1888 and 1892, winning the Royal Academy Gold Medal and Travelling Studentship in 1889. In the 1890s, he worked as an illustrator, eventually settling in London. Though Draper was neither a member nor an associate of the Royal Academy, he took part in the annual expositions from 1890 on. In later years as the public tastes changed and mythological scenes became less popular, he concentrated more on portraits.
The sale of his painting The Sea Maiden by the Royal Cornwall Museum in 2010, to help secure its finances, generated debate about the policy of disposing of artworks to ensure financial and commercial survival.
Jacket Lining
We also offer this work as a stunning jacket lining. The large central image, paired with the tones of the painting work beautifully against a mid to dark coloured jacket. Explore the silk jacket lining.
. 
THREE WAYS TO FOLD THE POCKET SQUARE
As mentioned previously, this painting works brilliantly as a silk pocket square due to the border pattern and dark shading within the artwork. This will enable you to be creative and playful with your pocket square fold type. We discuss three fold styles in more detail to use below.
Two-Point Fold
The Two Point Fold also known as the Two Peaks Fold, is a type of fold that could be described as a classic fold. Still relatively conservative, it works well for more formal events or in the corporate world.
If you use this fold with a single coloured pocket square it will add a little more interest to your jacket. However, for something a bit more interesting, for example a pocket square such as The Lament for Icarus, the multicolours within the artwork will have a nice contrast with different tones between the two peaks.
Read Further: The Two Point Fold
The Wave Fold
The wave pocket square fold is a stylish fold that gives an exquisite final flourish to your outfit for the evening.
It is not the simplest of folds to create, however, if you follow the instructions in our easy to follow guide, with a little bit of practice (and perhaps a few false starts) it can actually be mastered pretty quickly and is always a good fold to make a sartorial statement.
Read Further: The Wave Fold
Puff Fold
The Puff Fold is not only one of the most popular folds but also one of the simplest to master. The most classic style is to adjust it till it forms a semi-circle above your pocket, but the very nature of the Puff Fold means you can be creative with the final look.
We feel it works best for a more casual look, and can be easily adjusted to display the different colours in your pocket square.
Read Further: The Puff Fold
These are only three options when it comes to how to fold your pocket square. Head over to our YouTube channel which has many videos on styling, product insights and our new series on how to fold your pocket square. In below video, Alex explores the crown fold in more detail.
Watch Further: YouTube Fold Video Series
What Makes Our Pocket Squares So Special?
