Prince Charles has always been a polished dresser but when the heir to the British throne stepped out in the summer not once but seven times in a patched grey double-breasted jacket, he wasn’t just being natty, he was bang on trend. From Junya Watanabe and Richard James to Alexander McQueen, Oliver Spencer and 3.1 Philip Lim, patchwork is a mainstay of menswear this season, be it spliced-together suits and sports jackets or jigsaw-cut trousers and coats.

Tom Kalenderian, executive vice-president and general merchandise manager of menswear at Barneys New York, says: “In the world of men’s designer clothes, patchwork fabrics are seen more as a platform for artistic expression rather than mere cloth. We loved the Junya Watanabe patchwork blazers [from ￡1,060], shirts [￡349] and coats [￡1,485]. Theses pieces are so beautiful and rich in their tweediness; they seem best as standalone pieces, working with neutral underpinnings like chinos or cords. At Alexander McQueen, the red patchwork blazer really stood out as something to be worn for an event.”

These clothes are anything but gardening gear; witness the price tags. Savile Row has even got in on the act with tailor Richard James piecing together fine suit fabrics in a mix of earthy shades and country checks to make a show-stopping sports jacket for ￡4,980. “I don’t think any single piece from the autumn collection was talked about quite as much as that jacket,” says James. “It’s actually made from a patchwork of cashmere. It was technically difficult, as each piece was cut by hand before being sewn together. But it was more about working with patterns and colour than showing off the technical skill involved.”