British designer Patrick Grant has launched a not-for-profit fashion
brand called Community Clothing with the aim of reigniting British clothing
and textile manufacturing.
The social clothing initiative is dedicated to making clothes, creating
jobs and supporting the UK textile community, and Grant has set up a
Kickstarter fund inviting the public to pledge their support by placing
advance orders for the clothes.
The hope is that Community Clothing can raise 75,000 pounds over the
next four weeks by allowing consumers to pre-order a range of quality,
staple everyday garments for both men and women.
Commenting on the launch, Grant said: “I believe that everyone in
Britain should be able to afford to buy exceptional quality British-made
clothes, and to play their own part in sustaining and creating British
jobs. Community Clothing will make British clothes affordable to all.
“I also feel passionately that at the heart of great communities lie
great employers and that at the heart of personal pride lies a great job.
Community Clothing will support great employers and great workers in
communities across Britain.”
Community Clothing’s plan is to use spare capacity in slack periods to
make great, cost engineered clothing and sell directly to the consumer,
cutting out the usual wholesale and retail mark-ups.
Grant, who owns Savile Row tailor Norton and Sons and is the creative
director for ready-to-wear label E Tautz, believes that seasonality of
demand across the fashion industry has had an adverse effect on British
manufacturing, and Community Clothing can help preserve jobs and keep
factories running year-round.
“In Britain we have a proud tradition of making the very finest textiles
and the very best clothes. But the British clothing industry faces all
sorts of serious challenges. For several months every year, even the best
British factories are nowhere near full. This can lead to seasonal hiring
and firing, zero hours contracts, or worse – factory closures,” added
Grant.
The debut collection features three key items for men and women: a
five-pocket pair of jeans priced at 49 pounds; a classic Harrington jacket
priced at 79 pounds; and a single-breasted cotton twill raincoat for 119
pounds – with the outerwear coming in either navy or khaki. The hope is if
the campaign goes well that production can start as early as March with
delivery to customers in July.
Grant explained: “By designing with simple manufacturing in mind, these
products can be sewn in the same premium fabrics and with the same quality
as the best high-end designer clothes.”
Community Clothing has established links with a with a network of
factories across England, Scotland and Wales in traditional clothing and
textile making communities. The initial production run of jeans and
outerwear will be manufactured at the Cookson and Clegg clothing factory in
Blackburn, which Grant acquired last year saving it from closure.
Profits from the social clothing initiative will be invested in
programmes in those same communities where the factories are located, a
statement from the company confirmed, and these will provide skills
training, personal development programmes and apprenticeships that help get
people into skilled work in the textile and garment industry.
Initially, Community Clothing will be available via the Kickstarter
page, with an online store planned, before the opening of a
bricks-and-mortar presence this summer. The Kickstarter campaign, which has
a target of 75,000 pounds, will run until March 15.
Images: Community Clothing