Tag: menswear

wetheknot: Daily Essentials

Founded ten years ago by Sérgio Gameiro and Filipe Cardigos and based in Lisbon, wetheknot is a fashion label focusing on a limited range of essential pieces made with premium materials and designed to be used on a daily basis.

We caught up with Sérgio and Filipe to find out more about the beginnings of the brand, manufacturing their pieces in Portugal and the impact of COVID-19 on consumer habits.

www.wetheknot.com
Images courtesy of wetheknot

Who’s behind wetheknot? What made you start your own fashion label?

I started wetheknot together with Filipe, as a personal side project, around ten years ago, with the idea of creating design objects for contemporary everyday life.

I am a fashion designer and Filipe is a graphic designer — our common interest in high-quality long-lasting items made us wonder about how we could join forces to create these pieces that we could not find on the market, at least in the way
we wanted.

At the beginning our focus was mainly on accessories: pouches, pencil cases and roll-top backpacks in vegan leather — all with a minimal design and in a very resistant material, which allow them to stand up both to regular use and seasonal
trends, and which gave them the distinctive feature for which wetheknot got to be known internationally.

What makes wetheknot stand out from other fashion labels in the market?

We want to inspire people to live with few timeless pieces that are made to last. For this reason, we only offer a limited range of essential products made with premium sustainable materials and designed to be used on a daily basis — without limitations on specific circumstances or rigid social norms.

Our permanent clothing collection, launched last year, was indeed conceived to adapt to day-to-day routine and to respond to social and environmental issues with a conscious alternative.

Portugal has a long tradition in clothing manufacturing, can you tell us more about how you use your country’s resources to create your pieces?

Our aim is to involve local family-run businesses as much as possible, for this reason all of our products are made here in Portugal. Thanks to our partners’ expertise we can guarantee the best quality and durability, and also contribute to the national development in this sector. People all over the world are amazed by Portuguese manufacturing abilities and — of course — we are very proud of promoting that.

Can you tell us more about your latest collection?

The limited edition collection was created with the intention to complement our actual selection — adding more colors and more cuts, still following basic clean lines and minimal details. We got the inspiration from regular routines and day-to-day habits, which always change in form and always allow us to adapt to what is going on in our lives, in the lives of others and in the society at large.

Often, there are some practices that go unnoticed or overlooked, but on which we rely on — taking them almost for granted. Until the moment when things change and we have to embrace new challenges — to continue evolving.

With COVID-19 hitting the fashion industry hard right now, how do you see consumer habits changing?

People in general — we do not really like the word consumers 🙂 — will focus even more on essentials. Times like the ones we are going through can help us think more about our choices and our actions and on their consequences. We hope customers will give a preference to small independent brands instead of big groups, prioritizing local production and ethical methods. The world was already facing a huge issue — about climate change and unsustainable practices — and now we have the opportunity to reflect before “going back” to the way things were done before.

April 8, 2020
Brothers We Stand

Founded by Jonathan Mitchell, Brothers We Stand is a new online retailer selling ethical menswear. Conceived as an alternative for the customer dissatisfied with fast fashion and its questionable practices, every product on the website features a footprint tab providing information on its social and environmental impact. Brothers We Stand stocks a stylish and sustainable range of products from its own brand and other like-minded labels.

We tried on some of its pieces and spoke with Jonathan about what made him start Brothers We Stand, working with friends and his future plans.

www.brotherswestand.com

What made you start Brothers We Stand?

I noticed that there was a growing number of menswear designers working to sustainable standards but that they were often hard to find. So I had the idea that it would be cool to bring them together. That’s it really!

Our aim is to provide a solution that allows style loving people to build a wardrobe made up of stylish and sustainably made menswear.

What’s the main criteria for a brand to be stocked at Brothers We Stand?

For us the product comes first, it’s got to be a great product. We search out pieces that are aesthetically pleasing, created to last and ethically and sustainably made.

Every product on the site has a different story but all have something about their manufacture that sets them apart from the norm. It could be that they are made from recycled materials, that they are made in a wind-powered factory or perhaps that they are hand-made in London.

The Level Collective t-shirt

The Level Collective t-shirt

Please tell us a little more about the different brands you stock at Brothers We Stand.

Seeing as you’re repping a Level Collective tee, let me tell you a bit more of them! Mark Musgrave is the creative head behind the brand and he collaborates with emerging illustrators to co-create prints for his bamboo and cotton tees and sweats. Mark’s designs are inspired by his personal love of the great outdoors and I love the gentle simplicity to his work. The garments are good quality and his bamboo tees are some of the softest t-shirts we’ve come across.

Elvis and Kresse are another brand and provide a good example of the diversity of materials the brands we work with use. They make phone cases, wallets and bags from upcycled fire hose and military parachute silk. Kresse’s had a fascination with waste since childhood and their story began when Kresse and her partner James met some people from the fire brigade and were invited to come and view their waste. They were brought to a ‘fire hose landfill’ where hoses which can survive for up to 25 years of active service are scrapped when they are too damaged to repair. Kresse says she fell in love with the ‘rich, lustrous coils of red.’!

James is a skilled craftsman and together they began experimenting with the hoses and started to make bags and wallets. Due to the hard exterior of the material it is hard to work with but they found the effort to be worthwhile and the resulting products highly durable. The couple have now been working with the material for ten years and perfectionism doesn’t even come close to describing how they’re constantly refining their products. Elvis spent an incredible five years perfecting a billfold wallet which apparently he still thinks can be improved further! Their pieces are beautiful and have a narrative to them that’s unrivalled due to the history of the fire hose.

These are just two examples but all the brands we work with have inspiring stories and it’s a privilege to work with them and sell their products.

Brothers We Stand sweatshirt

You’ve built Brothers We Stand alongside a group of friends, can you tell us more about them?

Brothers We Stand has got to where it is today thanks to the hard work and talents of a lot of people! Whilst I was planning the business I was working as a waiter with an agency which meant I met a lot of new people. One of the guys I got to know was Alex, a Romanian computer science student, and he ended up helping out with some of the coding I needed doing for the website. Luca Iiriti was the housemate of another waiter friend and he designed our pre-launch material which was crucial in getting the first brands on board. Then Gary, a long-time friend, designed our logo. Gary’s gone on to be a huge support and many a day I’ll interrupt his work at Sparks Studio asking him if he can help out with this or that!

Since we launched, Delia has organised brilliant parties, Rachel has taken really strong photos, Ashley has super charged our Twitter and Lisa has stitched labels for our own brand collection. Alex has repped us at parties and events and Jack has written copy (and is just about to start a fortnightly Brothers We Stand newsletter which I’m really excited about).

There are many others who have contributed and continue to do so and Brothers We Stand is the product of a lot of people’s imagination, insights and hard work. We hope that the end result is something that people love and can take as much enjoyment of being part of as we do.

What are Brothers We Stand’s future plans?

Our aim at Brothers We Stand is to provide a brilliant service that helps people build sustainable and ethical wardrobes. We just want to continue taking that forward and seek to continuously improve our service.

We’re also keen to work on interesting creative projects to show what a sustainable and ethical future for the fashion industry can look like. We’ve got a project in the works now and it’s set for launch March/April 2016 so watch this space!

Visit Brothers We Stand.

November 4, 2015
Outwitting the weather with Joules

Tom Joule started British lifestyle brand Joules in 1989 designing colourful polo shirts. Throughout the years, Tom grew a customer base who appreciated the design and quality details in his clothing, and sold his products at country fairs across the UK. But when the foot-and-mouth crisis struck in 2001, Tom lost his main selling platforms due to many of these fairs closing down and decided to diversify Joules into a mail order business, growing the product range and later opening his first shop in Market Harborough, next to his father’s café.

Joule brought innovation and modern edge into the rather traditional countryside clothing market and today, Joules is one of Britain’s most loved lifestyle brands, producing clothing, accessories and homewares.

There are some great lessons to be learnt from Tom’s business story and his ability to innovate and adapt to change. That’s why we were excited when Joules approached us to ask if we wanted to test something from the men’s range. We picked the Rainier mac coat and the Ewan jumper, and took them with us on a morning off in Edinburgh.

We decided that the best way to test the clothes, and see if they could help us outwit the weather, was to wear them on a hike up Arthur’s Seat, Edinburgh’s own dormant volcano from where you you can enjoy breathtaking views of the city. If you have visited Scotland in January, you probably know that the weather isn’t too pleasant around this time of the year, but despite the wind and cold temperatures, the Rainier coat and the Ewan jumper managed to keep us warm and let us enjoy the city views!

February 1, 2015
Hemen Biarritz

Hemen is a men’s underwear label recently founded in Biarritz, France by the owners of creative and apparel design studio MakeMy Studio and two-wheeler culture specialist Bixente. Inspired by the Basque Country and its traditions, Hemen propose high-quality garments for the men of today, living in harmony with their time and caring about their comfort.

To find more about Hemen, we had a chat with one of its founders, Marie Guyot, and we visited their studio space in Biarritz. You can read the interview below.

Photos by Benjamin Jeanjean

www.hemen-biarritz.com

You have experience working in apparel design and art direction with your agency MakeMy Studio. What made you start your own clothing label and why did you decide to focus on men’s underwear?

In the beginning, MakeMy Studio was approached by Bixente, the owner of a custom garage here in Biarritz, to work on the Hemen project.

Bixente had the idea: a men’s underwear label inspired by the Basque Country called Hemen. MakeMy Studio turned the idea into a concept. We created the logo, the branding, the design and we looked after the art direction and sourcing. We decided not only to collaborate in the project but become a partner.

Tell us a little more about the design and manufacture process of your garments.

We design everything ourself here in Biarritz. Understated but not basic, our range of undergarment is intended to be both unique and for everyone. Our signature, sophisticated and discrete, is a linen yoke overstitched with a red thread.

Underwear are the garments that are most subjected to body movements. To avoid deformation, we only use cotton knitted from long fibers. This feature guarantees the delicacy and extensibility of the product. For our boxer-short model, the Albar, the mesh is also mixed with 4% elastane for even more resiliency.

Our designs only use flatlock seams. They are particularly suited for extensible fabrics, and, when done with special care, they also have the property to reduce friction. Finally, our products are devised according to the male morphology to ensure absolute comfort.

Deeply concerned about our impact on the environment, and motivated by a civic approach, we produce jersey underwear made from GOTS-certified organic cotton (Global Organic Textil Standard).

The intensive farming of cotton is one of the most polluting on the planet. Organic cotton, on the other hand, is grown without chemical fertilizers or pesticides, and the dye is done without using heavy metals or other harmful substances. This growing method avoids a number of intoxications recorded in developing producing countries. It is approximately 20% more expensive, the yield return being less efficient, but the harvested fiber is smoother, softer, and therefore more pleasurable to wear.

The textile production is made in the region of Porto, in Portugal, a country we are fond of for its savoir-vivre, and do support for its textile savoir-faire. Indeed, Portugal figures among the most highly rated production sites for designers with high quality standards, especially concerning jersey work. This location is a strategic choice as well, with regard to reactivity and flexibility, but also to environmental impact, considering the human size of the factories and geographic proximity.

Hemen is inspired by the Basque Country and its traditions. We’d like to know a little more about this, how does a tradition influence a clothing collection?

The Basques believe that in olden days, during transhumance, the shepherds wives used to give their husbands an undergarment that was endowed with the power to protect them from the harshness of nature’s elements.

Hemen, which means “here” in the Basque language, wanting to perpetuate this tradition, managed to revive the genuine savoir-faire and high-quality textiles that built the reputation of this legendary present.

We design underwear with personality for the men of today, living in harmony with their time and caring about their comfort – male underwear with an attitude.

Bixente, our partner, is a local native figure here. He has been a collector and a two-wheeler culture specialist for more than 20 years. As a vintage expert, he always find the ideas in the hidden treasures he finds.

Besides, the Basque Country is such a strong region regarding crafts, culture and natural elements – mountain, ocean, rain, sun, snow… – that we have a limitless source of inspiration.

What are the future plans for Hemen?

A lot to do! Widen the range with new styles and new colours. A couple of cool collaborations in the pipeline and develop our visibility in the cool boutiques and concept stores in the EU.

There’s so many things going on in Biarritz at the moment. Tell us about some interesting projects we shouldn’t miss on a visit to the city.

Biarritz has always been a very attractive place for creative minds and people are pretty daring in launching projects here.

Our friends from Cetus are doing great stuff and we have just launched our new project: Atalaye – Bain de Biarritz, a high-end swimshort brand for men.

July 20, 2014