Fashion

If by 'break even' you're wondering whether that price tag covers the cost of making the shirt.

Out of curiosity, and if you don’t mind sharing of course, what volumes do you need to hit for that price?

they do on a £50 linen pocket square...

Yeah exactly. How long does it take one person to make a shirt?

If not and I’m going, happy to pick you some up

👍

It depends on the factory but we use a place called Tower Garments in Enfield and the minimum order quantities are fairly low. We're making c.2k shirts a year now but the price was pretty much the same when we were making batches of 100 shirts.

In a traditional factory set up, it isn't just one person that makes a shirt. There are various stages assigned to different teams within the factory. Broadly speaking, it's broken down into: cutting, sewing, buttoning, pressing, and quality control/finishing.

That split across different teams makes tracking the hours puts into individual items tricky. Shirts are cut in batches for instance - anywhere up to 10 layers of fabric (and therefore 10 shirts) in one go. Under the machines, they're obviously done individually. My best guess is that each shirt takes about 1-1.5 hours across the various processes.

Bespoke shirts are cut individually, which is why they cost so much more. That, and the fact you're getting a bespoke pattern made and inevitably using very expensive fabrics.

Thanks! Appreciate the transparency!

Do I remember correct that you're the linen shirt person?

I had to wait 6 weeks for mine but that includes the Italian shut down for August.
Joking aside I’m guessing a £200 shirt costs about £40-£60 at the factory gate (ex vat) but that’s a one off custom job with expensive fabric/buttons so can’t be cut by machine.
Actually it probably could be done by computer but you still have to enter the numbers.

That's right yeh. The brand is Flax London. We're trying to change perceptions around linen - both the seasons it suits and the sort of people who wear it.

Very happy to answer basically any question on the fashion supply chain. One of the things we're fighting is the deliberate disconnect brands have traditionally created between consumers and the provenance of the clothes they buy.

Just had a look at your site, some amazing looking additions since I last checked. I need to book in a trip to London

@calben i love the look of the railway jacket!

My flax linen shirt is genuinely my favourite shirt. I'm coming back for another one very soon...

@Calben This image is great, this really shows how well linen ages. More like these!

Yeah that’s sick.

Railway jacket looks ace, could do with a pic of the back though (apologies for unsolicited feedback!). I'll be dropping into your shop next time I'm out West.

Agree, really nice looking jacket.

There is a Folk sample sale Friday, Saturday, Sunday at The Boiler House, 152 Brick Lane

Thanks for all the kind words, folks. Glad to hear the stuff appeals.

Noted. We're filtering more of this into our content. By popular demand. Particularly to show off the free repairs aspect of what we do. There is (thankfully) fairly limited numbers of things coming in for repair but some of the very first batch we ever made have been through the mill and need some TLC. The shirt Pia is wearing in this pic has been worn religiously for nearly 4 years, including a 6 month trip through Africa during which it spend a lot of time being worn in the sand under a Toyota Landcruiser!

Hearing this sort of thing makes my week.

No apologies needed. Feedback is always welcome. This is an outtake from a shoot we did - hopefully it gives you the perspective you're after.

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It was simply the mention of a single back seam detail and then not being able to find a picture...looks smashing, thank you. Great colour ways too.

Where to look for a heavyweight cashmere dressing gown?

these are great