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10,000 years from now future generations will find remnants of polyester in the earth and assume that we had no style. We’re trying to change that. Each of our garments is made of the finest cloth the world has to offer. Cloth woven of natural “noble” fibers: merino wool, cashmere, silk, and linen. Our collection of new and vintage cloths come from heritage mills and merchants such as Loro Piana, Holland and Sherry, Cerruti, Dormeuil, and many others from Biella, Italy, and Huddersfield, England. Traditionally used for high-end suits due to its beautiful drape and ability to hold shape, we’ve taken this cloth on a new path, bringing it into the world of youthful sensibilities. The cloth alone is a work of art, we strive to honor this craft by creating elegant, thoughtful garments that live up to it.
We are based in the garment district of Montreal, near Rue Chabanel. Chabanel was once one of the greatest garment manufacturing centers in the world, with millions of square feet of factory space spread out over more than a dozen industrial buildings. While still the center of Canada’s rag trade, most of the buildings are no longer used for garment manufacturing as the production has moved offshore motivated by lower wages and less environmental and safety regulations. These massive concrete buildings serve as monuments to the radical idea that we used to make things with our hands. A time when we weren’t so alienated from the things we consume. A reminder that clothing is made by seamstresses, not creative directors.
This isn’t Paris, this isn’t Milan, it’s Chabanel.
Our process is built on love and dedication to the craft. It starts with research: inspecting the seams of vintage garments, reading old tailoring books, or watching sewing machine repair videos in languages we don’t understand. Then we start creating. We do everything in-house. From the pattern cutting and sample sewing all the way through to production. This allows us to have full creative control over what we design, and to obsess over the details. Sometimes we need to make ten fit samples before the trousers sit perfectly or change the size of the bartacks by a fraction of an inch. Working in this way would be impossible without doing it ourselves. It allows us to pursue perfection in our garments in a way that a tech pack being sent to a faceless manufacturer across the world will never replicate.
Like many small designers, we had trouble finding local contractors to produce our designs. Most of Montreal’s factories have shut down, and those that are left are usually unwilling to work with complicated designs or the nuance of vintage clothes and small batches. Producing our designs locally was important to us, so instead of giving up, we had a crazy idea: To start our own micro-factory and produce the designs ourselves. We began working at local factories to learn the ropes and got weird looks for asking too many questions. We started buying used equipment from closing factories in the neighborhood. We found some mentors. It took a while, but eventually things started working. Over time this equipment which was supposed to be a means to an end became an inspiration. These machines have been used for decades and we like to imagine that some of that experience is rubbing off on us.