Community Clothing makes men's and women's clothes here in the UK. It's always a pleasure to come across a brand that is clear and straightforward about what it does. We live in an age when consumers are becoming savvy to over-clever marketing; the brands 'who never have seasonal sales' but regularly clear out their archives at a discount, or who are vague about the manufacturing origins of their clothes by selling 'British Style' that's made in Asia or who 'never use influencers' in their marketing and then clearly do so (I've seen it all this year).
Honesty goes a long way and Community Clothing (link below), founded by Patrick Grant, is clear that it sells well-made British-produced products at reasonable prices and it doesn't dilute this message by over-egging it. The clothes are obviously well-made. Designed to be simple and uncomplicated, it's no accident that their logo is based on the post-war CC41 clothing label that marked affordable and well-made clothes available during rationing during and after WW2.
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| A British-made outfit for under £200 from Community Clothing. Jacket £89, linen shirt £49, pleated trousers £59 |
I wanted to try some of their clothes and find out more about the thinking behind the brand from its founder. I asked Patrick Grant to tell us more about Community Clothing:
Q: Patrick, please tell us how Community Clothing works.
A: Very simply we’ve built a business model that cuts out all the usual cost of designing, manufacturing and selling clothes. No seasonal collections, no far-away and ever-changing suppliers, no transport and duty, no traditional retail, no advertising and no paid influencers. Instead we offer well designed everyday basics, engineered to last, made by exceptional factories, locally. By doing all of this we make our clothes affordable, sustainable and ethical, and help to restore economic prosperity to textile and garment making communities here in the UK.
Q: Are all the products made in you factory in Blackburn?
A: We now have a network of 20 (shortly we hope to rise to 23) factories in the UK, covering yarn spinning, weaving, jersey knitting, dyeing, finishing, printing, garment knitting and garment sewing. There’s a map in the middle of the latest issue of our magazine that shows all the locations. All brilliant factories, most family owned, many with centuries of experience in doing what they’re doing, and all of them making for an array of very well-known premium UK brands.
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| Linen shirt, pleated trousers, Community Clothing |
Q: How do you decide on product styles and design - is there a CC style?
A: Our philosophy is simple. We want Community Clothing to be the go-to brand for all your essential basics and classics. We aim to design and engineer the very best version of every wardrobe staple we can think of. We started with a long list which we’re working through product by product.
We always begin with the original (the M65 Field jacket, the M51 parka, the G4 Harrington) but then we re-engineer for simplicity, refining, leaving off any superfluous detail, so no unnecessary zips, straps or pockets, so we can minimise the sewing operations, keeping costs lower.
We also do some simple and obvious things like using the same fabrics across multiple products, meaning we can afford to use exceptional quality premium fabrics like British Millerain waterproof cottons, or Hainsworth meltons, or the brilliant quality British knitted heavyweight single jersey and loopback for our t-shirts and sweatshirts. And we also work to minimise the number of trims we source, so we’ve done things like design all of our chinos and jeans to use just two lengths of zip, the same with our outerwear, which means we place bigger, simpler orders with our suppliers, meaning larger more efficient productions runs for them, and far less admin for us.
Q: What is the future for CC?
A: The future is pants! We’ve found a brilliant underwear factory in South Wales and we‘re busy developing underpants for men and women. But like everything else we do we’re thoroughly engineering every part of them. Obviously we’re striving for a great fit, but more importantly we’re developing the optimum weight and type of jersey, and we’re sourcing great quality elastics that mean our pants should really last. Like the pants that in the past you could easily find at a decent price on the British high street and now cannot find without spending upwards of £25.
And there’s more in the pipeline but all with the same philosophy; making great quality, ethical, sustainable clothes affordable to everyone.
To find out more and to buy their products go to Community Clothing
See also "Sartorial Sages: style tips from Patrick Grant" here on the blog.
See also "Sartorial Sages: style tips from Patrick Grant" here on the blog.
I'd like to thank Patrick Grant for his help with this feature. This is an unsponsored post. The clothes were borrowed for the photographs.
