I'm very grateful to reader Alex Hughes, budding blogger, friend of Grey Fox Blog and menswear aficionado for this report on Blackhorse Lane Ateliers, a company making denims in East London:
The debate over jeans and the mature gent won't go away any time soon, but I hope that readers of this blog would agree with the proposition that, with certain caveats (such as quality, wash and fit), there is no reason for any arbitrary limit on the ability of a gent to wear jeans at any age. With that in mind, along with importance Grey Fox blog places upon supporting British manufacturing, this correspondent paid a recent visit to Blackhorse Lane Ateliers, a relatively new but exciting operation based in East London.
Launched in April this year (after over a year of planning and preparation) by Han Ates, who has over twenty years experience in the clothing and textile industry, Blackhorse Lane Ateliers is a project which is the antithesis of disposable fashion. Having purchased three pairs of jeans from a major brand at the beginning of 2015 and having been unimpressed with the quality of construction, along with noticing that each pair had been produced in a different country, Han was moved by a desire to produce a quality item using traditional ‘Heritage’ manufacturing techniques, employing local workers in the process.
His recent experience hasn’t been easy though, and underlines the value in supporting British brands which manufacture in this country and thereby maintain a skilled workforce; 21 years ago when setting up another clothing operation, he advertised for workers and 3 weeks later had 110 applications. This time around, after 4 months he had 9 applications. The current workforce is a mixture of experienced workers and trainees learning the skills needed to produce garments to a high standard.
The result is a range of styles named after London postcodes in a variety of weights of selvedge denim, sourced from (currently) Turkish and (more familiar to the denim heads out there) Japanese mills. Given the emphasis on the quality of materials and care to the manufacturing process the jeans are not cheap, but having borne witness to both it is highly believable that by measuring value in the perennial ‘cost per wear’ metric, they will actually prove much cheaper in the long run, as well as being more pleasurable to wear.
It’s difficult not to be impressed with both their dedication to the quality of their products and high ethical standards they set themselves with regard to the environmental impact of their production. Other projects include growing their own indigo for future use in their jeans, and giving back to the local community, such as providing open days for school children to encourage an interest in clothing manufacture and make them think about the provenance of the clothes they wear. See Blackhorse Lane Atelier Denim
Contributed by Alex Hughes. This is an unsponsored post and all views are those of the author and this blog.
