09/06/2023
Today I bring back Niamh Carr of NemCee and Gary Newbold of English Utopia for a catch-up on how they are getting on. The idea was to have an open and frank chat about aspects of the fashion business from the point of view of small brands, what makes a brand, what quality implies and how that impacts how you…
19/05/2023
It’s been a long time coming, but this week finally sees iconic British designer Nigel Cabourn guest Garmology for a wide-ranging and openhearted chat about why he really got into fashion design, his inspirations and heroes, the ups and downs of life and business, his love of travelling, meeting people and collecting vintage garments, the collection that never happened, and…
12/05/2023
This week’s guest is Eva Kittelsen, author and visible mending activist, sewing bee contestant, fashion and textile designer and entrepreneur. We talk about her starting out in the fashion industry, her experiences in fast fashion, how getting involved in ethical production changed things and how mending came to be so important, both as a way to repair clothes and as…
05/05/2023
This week’s guest is Dr Kat Jungnickel, sociologist (from Goldsmiths, University of London), cyclist, tweed enthusiast and keen investigator of historical clothing patents. We talk about how the popularity of ‘safety’ bicycles in Britain in the 1890s became a catalyst for the women’s rights movement and led to sartorial inventions and patents for new forms of (convertible) cycle wear that…
28/04/2023
This week’s guest is Guy Hills, bon vivant and founder of Dashing Tweeds, makers of innovative tweed and dashing outfits thereof. We get into the joy of tailoring, menswear history, why tweed is a top technical fabric, old money fashion, tweed runs, why tailored tweed is the hard drug of garments and more. Oh, and what a true garmsman does…
17/04/2023
This week’s guest is Allon Zloof, a fourth-generation hatmaker with the family-owned Tom Smarte. We talk about different styles, a bit of history, where hats are at today, changes in the hatmaking industry, how to select a hat to suit you, sizing, materials and maybe more importantly how to find the confidence to don a hat! You can find Tom…
07/04/2023
Today we are off to the British seaside to meet Kelly Dawson and Scott Ogden of Dawson Denim, a small maker of quality jeans. We talk about how Kelly became increasingly disenchanted with her career in the garment industry, about Japanese denim, how offering free repairs brought media mentions, meeting through the vintage music scene and how their shared…
02/04/2023
In this episode, Rosanna Watson of Snowdonia Gear Repair drops in to talk about the boom in outdoor gear, designing for repairability, greenwashing in the outdoor industry, the problem with “sustainable” proofing, the balance between technical performance and durability, Goretex and synthetic fabric, why some like visible repairs and others don’t and why you should start mending your clothes today. Oh, and a…
24/03/2023
My guests today are Diane and James Welstead, veterans of the garment industry and entrepreneurs of well-based leg comfort, the Olaf McTarn. We talk about how the garment business has changed over the past decades, offshoring production, how textiles have changed, the joy of actually crafting things, the relevance of stories in marketing and even take a moment to consider…
17/03/2023
We’re off to Wales this week to talk to Ruth Emily Davey about her life making shoes. We talk about how she quite unintentionally started as a shoemaker’s apprentice, grew to love the craft, her mentor and friend Alan James Raddon, why we can’t all wear the same type of shoes and what a community means for the craft. And…