We Only Make Things in Great Britain. Here's Why. Part 1.

Just before I tell you our story of provenance, I want to tell you about a brand-new product this week, made exclusively for us in Haverfordwest. This lovely big, heavy scarf is available now and we are super proud of it. Please take a look at our new scarf here. 

This week I’m going to tell you about Caroline, Sarah and my shared passion for making stuff in Britain. This matters greatly to us. It won’t matter to everyone, but that’s okay because we don’t need everyone to join us.

Our mission to value British provenance is equal parts unusual and important. But it is starting to attract attention and so I thought you might enjoy a missive on why we’re doing what we do.

Having said this, we don’t want to be known purely as a company that makes things in Britain. Beauty and utility are the most important things in any product, and we’d hate to be placed in that rather grim category of companies that are environmentally friendly/Fair Trade or whatever, above everything else. It is not enough to make stuff that’s worthy if it’s ugly and useless.

So, we value beauty, utility and provenance in equal measure. 

Why Provenance Matters.

We three are interested in provenance because it’s the story of a product’s origins that gives it soul. A big part of a product’s beauty is in this soul; the rest is what you see, smell, and touch. A product cannot be truly beautiful if lacks soul, so, ergo, if a thing lacks good provenance, it can’t be truly beautiful. 

An elegant, arresting piece of clothing made in a sweat shop cannot be beautiful because its soul is damaged by exploitation. Full stop.

And, in our opinion, the best provenance is British provenance because it supports jobs, families, communities, heritage, narrative, skills and more on our doorsteps. Of course, there are goods of incredible depth and beauty from endless amazing countries, and we all own and admire wonderful goods from Japan, India, Africa, France, The USA and on and on and on. But that doesn’t mean that British goods aren’t the best or at least the ones that we hold dearest.

Why We Make in Britain.

First, I suppose that the short answer here is that in the paragraph above; we all live and work here. And so, as we can make stuff here, we might as well. Britain isn’t better at manufacturing everything, of course it isn’t, but what it does well, it does incredibly well.

You can make amazing shirts and jackets and vases and blankets and baskets in many other countries; but you can also make these things really well in Great Britain, and -importantly-it is our home. So, as we value provenance we decided to focus on Britain’s skills and it feels good, it makes our products truly beautiful.

Second, there are incredible manufacturers in Britain and many of them are struggling to survive. This country used to be a manufacturing power-house, on all scales, and yet many of these trades are struggling or, worse, on their last legs. What is a country without craft and manufacturing? A country without Stoke-on-Trent, Hawick, Sheffield or Haverdfordwest? 

I ask because I don’t really know, but it isn’t at all good. 

Second, and this is important, we have some incredible manufacturers and craftspeople in Great Britain. They make amazing things with heritage skills and these things will last for a very long time, if not ever. There are people who use skills handed down through hundreds (thousands, even) of years, using materials that are fit for purpose. I think that you could argue that the British clothing industry is amongst the best in the world, that our ceramicists, basket weavers, blanket makers and paper millers are up there, too. 

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg (and if we continue to import all of these things from other countries, those icebergs will be toast, but that’s another story, I’ll come to that another day).

Third, don’t forget that these manufacturers are people, people who invest pride and tender love in the products that they make for us. When we sell something that’s made in Britain, the people who made its hearts are a little bit fuller. Perhaps this sounds patronizing; I don’t mean it to be because I am being genuine and serious.