Made In England

Marwood neckties are going to be fully and exclusively made in the UK. Marwood will provide a quality and original product that relies on the branding, packaging and marketing of the product as much as the actual design and make of the ties themselves. Recently myself and Sarah Carr visited the British silk mill Stephen Walters & Sons Ltd. (http://www.stephenwalters.co.uk/). We were lucky enough to have a tour of the factory and see the process in its entirety. We saw every step of the development from the research, to the artworking of the designs, to the factory floor where the impressive machines churn out metres of high quality silk fabrics for high class customers all over the world. To have the support of this superb example of British heritage and quality production means that Marwood Ties will be a worthy, high quality and entirely British product. The reality of making the ties fully factored through Stephen Walters gives Marwood authenticity and a backbone to the concept and values of this developing brand. Aside from this, the visit was most exciting as it was the commencement of the pattern and cloth development for the first Marwood tie collection. Super inspiring.

This week I will be meeting photographer Callum Toy to discuss a collaboration between him and Marwood. Callum has also developed a relationship with the Walters family and has photographed the factory and development stages; I look forward to posting these photographs very soon. In the meantime it is interesting to see that 'the making of' and the story behind heritage products is becoming a hot topic for many brands and many followers. Consumers need and want to know why they are paying good money for a 'quality' product. More information may mean that people care more about where their produce comes from and why they are buying in to it. Supporting home grown talent and authentic heritage is seemingly more and more important in today's climate of want, want, want and disposable possessions of imports and cheap knock-offs. Quality and longevity are not such forgotten values.


On friends' GOODHOOD's blog...
http://goodhoodstore.com/journal/soulland-adler-fedora-film-2487/
'Soulland have teamed up with their favorite crew from Alken Film and Nahm Studio and made a short film that takes you backstage and shows you how the Fedoras are hand crafted in a small factory in Copenhagen.'


Manufacture & Industry blog:
http://manufactureandindustry.blogspot.com/
They linked me to Rapha's website where Joe Hall visited their Somerset based glove factory, Burfields & Co. The last of its kind left in an area that used to accomodate 38 fellow glove manufacturers, this is another example of a dying trade and a rare, historic process that needs to be exploited and informed to the consumers of this product.
http://www.rapha.cc/burfields-and-co-1

Photos by Kasper Daems and Joe Hall.