On fabric and feeling

Before we draw a line, we touch cloth. Sofia, our materials director, travels twice a year to mills in Biella, Como, and the Scottish Borders — not to tour facilities, but to sit with swatches and ask a single question: how does this feel after an hour of wear?

We reject anything that looks beautiful under studio lights but loses its character in daylight. We reject synthetics that mimic natural fibres without earning the comparison. We reject fabrics that require chemical finishing to achieve what good raw material achieves on its own.

Our washed silk crepe, for instance, is enzyme-treated at the mill using a process that takes three days longer than standard washing. The hand is softer, the drape more fluid, and the colour more even — because the treatment works with the fibre rather than against it.

Material selection is not a procurement step in our process. It is the process.