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BRITISH M A D E A U T U M N / W I N T E R
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BRITISH M A D E
It is well known that the UK has a strong history in manufacturing and in many different aspects of production, but unfortunately in more recent years it seems that this heritage has taken a bit of a hit . The aim of this publication is to showcase the companies that are designing and manufacturing their product in Britain , spearheading t h e r e v i v a l i n q u a li t y B r i tish M a d e g o o d s !
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SEVEN
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RESTRAP
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HOUSE OF BILLIAM 14BIKE CO. Y’OH p. ASHDOWN
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SEVEN Park St. Bristol
Seven is an independent Streetwear store hailing from Bristol, stocking current and vintage garments from around the globe . The store is ran by Dom and Xeina , a duo that bring together a wealth of knowledge in fashion and design. From screen printed t -s hirts to custom jewelery and jackets, Seven store has been at the forefront of the Bristol fashion s c e ne with their i n n o v a tiv e and original graphic t’s, as well as covering the base of cut & sew w i t h t heir c ustom w o m e n s j a ck e ts a n d l e ggings.
Aside from t heir clothing , they have been involved in a nu mber of collab o r a t io n s wi t h other manufacturers from around the UK s ome m ore obscure than o t h e rs b ut always keeping that Streetwear feel to what they do.
www.sevenstorebristol.co.uk
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Can you explain what it is you do? We are a small shop in the heart of Bristol City, selling US & UK Streetwear brands, as well as our own line of clothes and jewelery.
When and why did you start manufacturing you product? Um well I graduated in fashion at the same time Dom graduated in Graphic Design. We both wanted to persue our respective careers and we’d always had the idea to open up a shop. Both of us have a passion for Streetwear and trainers so it seemed like the right thing to open SEVEN and work out of the store.
Is your product solely manufactured in the UK, if not where else is it manufactured and why? Our whole range is made here in Bristol. I make the womens jackets and leggings in the back room, we’ve got two sewing machines back there and thats where Dom designs the graphics for the Jumpers and t’s. We get the t’s printed at a screen printers in Stokes Croft, so yeah I guess everything is manufactured in the UK.
Do you think manufacturing in the UK benefits your product and how it sells? Well because we manufacture everything we sell ourselves, I suppose in terms or our overheads it keeps our costs low. We dont have to out-source anything other than the screep printing for the t’s and jumpers, oh well actually, I suppose our t-shirts and jumpers for print, they’re sourced from a distributor. I do think people buy into the fact that alot of our clothes are made right here in the shop, they travel a couple of metres from cutting table to shop floor its rare that you find that in many brands.
Where do you source materials, UK, abroad, etc and is there a reason you do this? I source my materials from all over the place really, I go to alot of markets and of course to London for a lot of it but really its if something catches my eye I will generally buy it. I only ever buy enough material for one or two garments though, to ensure my pieces stay limited.
Do you feel that being a UK based brand it is important for your product to be manufactured here? Yeah definitely, I wish that it was more affordable to source our t’s and jumpers from a UK based factory, but it’s just far too expensive and its impossible for me to make them myself, I’d end up having no time for the womens range.
Xeina / Seven Store Bristol
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HOUSE OF BILLIAM Arbutus St. Hackney
House of Billiam pride t h e m s e l ves on making one article of clothing flawlessy , that being the Varsity jacket . Starting up in 2007 for the first two years of its life the majority of m anufacturing was being done in a small single bedroom . The brand has now grown to offer more than 1 00 ,000 different variations of it’s famed Varsity jacket, With no one jacket being mass produced, their made to order jackets are custom tailored to ensure it fits each individual customers body to their sizing.
www.houseofbilliam.com
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Can you explain what it is you do?
Do you think manufacturing in the UK benefits your product and how it sells?
We are a two man team me (Tom) and Rav who’s head designer, he does everything I’d like to do, but don’t have the time to.
Without a doubt, that is one of the things we pride ourselves on as a company, that everything produced is manufactured solely in the UK. People want to buy a quality product nowadays and I think that people are starting to realise again how good British manufacturing is, people are slowly being put off mass produced product and are searching out quality made garments.
When and why did you start manufacturing you product? The brand started in 2009 when I moved to London and kind of set up in my bedroom, it started really because I made jackets for my friends and I only ever bought enough material to make one jacket, so every single one was different.
Is your product solely manufactured in the UK, if not where else is it manufactured and why? Everything is made in London in studio, we first take measurements from the client which is all done through the website. We then create a patterm specifically for them based on their measurements, we use oat paper to cut the pieces out of, once it’s cut it goes down to our sewing room, where we sew and press every seam.
Where do you source materials, UK, abroad, etc and is there a reason you do this? Right here in London, we deal with alot of the tailors for our materials. Again, because of the quality of British suiting fabrics.
Would you regard yourselves as an independent company and how does this benefit you and what you do? Yeah, we are completely independent. It really just gives us complete freedom in what we choose to manufacture, complete freedom to design and make what we want and to steer the company in the direction we want it to go!
Tom / House of Billiam
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Y’OH London
Y’OH is somewhere between a clothing company and an all purpose lifestyle brand . Using a number of thechnical materials to make up her garments, Kara Messina has brought a real technical quality to her clothing . With deep roots in Streetwear, it is great to see an element of this practical side of clothing starting to work its way back into this style and with it all being hand made in London you can ensure the quality of the product is next to none.
www.y-oh.co.uk
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Can you explain what it is you do? I am a menswear designer from London.
When and why did you start manufacturing you product? I started Y’OH about 3 years ago, I have designed clothes for a while now, but the idea for Y’OH started as a sort of homage to all the people I hang out with really and the clothes they wear.
Is your product solely manufactured in the UK, if not where else is it manufactured and why? Everything is manufactured in London.
Where do you source materials, UK, abroad, etc and is there a reason you do this? All my materials such as the waxed cotton and rayon are sourced in the UK from UK manufacturers. Some of my printed fabrics come from overseas, I can’t source alot of the patterned fabrics through the UK because they just aren’t made here.
Do you feel that being a UK based brand it is important for your product to manufactured here? Yeah, I’ts the one thing I can ensure will always be a feature of my clothes, seeing as I design everything and manufacture the vast majority of the range, I can guarantee that they will always be produced in the UK.
Kara Messina / Y’OH Clothing
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RESTRAP Leeds West Yorkshire
Restrap is based in Leeds, West Yorkshire and started out two years ago as the brain child of Nathan Hughes. It has gone from strength to strength over the 2 years they have been in business. Their main aim, to produce a top quality 100% hand made product that is both ethically and environmentally friendly. They have successfully broken into the the cycling market, with a number of bike shops stocking their product in the UK and around the world with a loyal following of riders using them.
www.restrap.co.uk
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With an ever expanding range using recycled materials such as old seat belts and a number of colloaborations with other companies, I am sure they have a lot more to offer.
Can you explain what it is you do? We are a bike company from Yorkshire started by riders for riders. We produce innovative, functional products for the cycling market, always with the environment playing a key part in the way we design and the materials used, with most Restrap products being manufactured from recycled materials.
When and why did you start manufacturing you product? We started manufacturing back in 2010, from a bedroom. The reason behind starting the company was to offer a more affordable alternative to what was already on the market. As well as offering both an ethical and environmentally friendly product that does’nt compromise the cost.
Is your product solely manufactured in the UK, if not where else is it manufactured and why? All our products are hand made in Leeds, Yorkshire by a dedicated team of Restrap riders.
Do you think manufacturing in the UK benefits your product and how it sells? One of the reasons we manufacture everything in the UK is so we can ensure complete control over our prduct and how it is produced, ensuring it is made to the highest standard everytime. Also it means we can keep costs to a minimum, making sure our customers get the best price for our product.
Where do you source materials, UK, abroad, etc and is there a reason you do this? Most of our materials are re-cycled sourced in the UK, any other materials we use are also ethically sourced in the UK.
Do you feel that being a UK based brand it is important for your product to manufactured here? Like mentioned above, we believe that to be able to offer a top quality product everytime, the only way to ensure this is have full control every step of the way.
Ryan / RESTRAP
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14BIKE CO. Elys Yard The Truman Brewery 91 Brick Lane London
Since they opened their doors in the spring of 2009, 14bike co. have built over 500 bikes. All of their frames are hand buit in the UK using British steel. Their slogan being, ‘we dont simply put you on a bike - we build a bike for you’. They are trying to bring British bike manufacturing back into the limelight, using only British Reynolds steel and trying to utilise as many UK based and built products as they can, 14bike co. are bringing the focus back to the UK for British bike building.
www.14bikeco.com
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Can you explain what it is you do? We build beautiful hand-made bikes.
When and why did you start manufacturing you product? There was a time when British bikes were the best in the world and we intend to help push British bike manufacture back into prominence.
Is your product solely manufactured in the UK, if not where else is it manufactured and why? All our frames are hand built in the UK using British steel. We use steel exclusively to build our 14Bike Co frames as it has a more forgiving ride. It lasts longer and is more readily repairable. As well as being light, strong and comfortable to ride.
Do you think manufacturing in the UK benefits your product and how it sells? We are proud of Britains heritage in bike manufacture and want to see it brought back to its former glory and we would say that our customers share these same beliefs. If we were to manufacture anywhere else than the UK we would be compromising our beliefs and the quality of our bikes.
Where do you source materials, UK, abroad, etc and is there a reason you do this? All of our materials are sourced in the UK.
Do you feel that being a UK based brand it is important for your product to manufactured here? Yes.
John / 14Bike Co
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ASHDOWN WORKSHOP East Sussex
Ashdown Workshop is a newcomer to the scene. Forming early this year, they officially launched their line in May. They are a Father & Son duo located in Sussex. They work exclusively with original antique leather tools. With years of the leather trade under their belt, they produce clean minimal looking products with no use of any kind of machine all products are 100% hand cut and stitched, using only UK sourced materials, you can’t get more British than that!
www.ashdownworkshop.co.uk
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Where do you source materials, UK, abroad, etc and is there a reason you do this? We use only the best materials which are all sourced locally in the UK. We mainly use premium veg-tanned leather,something that not only looks the part but will stand the test of time and only get better with age.
Can you explain what it is you do? We are a small father & son business. We focus on 100% handmade and handcrafted items, mainly those made from leather.
When and why did you start manufacturing you product? The business was set up through our desire to design, produce and own items of the highest standard and quality. We oficially started trading in the Spring of this year.
Do you feel that being a UK based brand it is important for your product to manufactured here? We believe in products that are all about the quality and not so much about the quantity. This is why we will always manufacture our product in the UK using British materials.
Spokesperson for / Ashdown Workshop
Is your product solely manufactured in the UK, if not where else is it manufactured and why? All of or products are produced in Sussex, England at our workshop by our leatherworker John Hammett, who has 45 years of experience under his belt. With our nonleather products, we still adhere to the same stringent rules of using only basic tools and our bare hands.
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