Hopefully you managed to read your last instalment where I explained the process behind a small brand like ours, getting our work onto the same shelves as our peers. It's an uphill battle if I'm being polite and it's a race to the bottom for millionaires to become billionaires, if I'm not. 

I'm never someone to worry about what I can't do though and focus on what I can. 

I love designing new things. It keeps me creative and it challenges me to be inventive. It makes me inquisitive as I delve into hours of research to unearth stories that inspire my latest work. I love fabric too and can be found scouring eBay for Italian wool jumpers or made in England wool coats. If I could, I would create a Mallin & Son waxed jacket using the best materials AND the research I've gathered. Maybe I will at some point but today it will cost a lot to make and a lot to buy for you the customer. 

My current middle-ground is restoring old pieces through our Beautifully Worn project. There's lots of joy to be found in fixing something old and putting it back into circulation for a new lease of life. I do often wonder if the world actually needs anymore 'new' stuff as there's so much amazing secondhand clothes out as well as surplus and deadstock. Why do we need anymore?

I've been speaking with Stuart Trevor (ex All Saints founder) as he's been doing some good work in re-purposing old garments, much like we do but through his own lens. His tagline is the 'clothing company that doesn't make clothes' and he shouts loudly about the problems caused by both fast fashion and excess. I should fact check but a stat I keep seeing is that we have enough clothes already made to clothe the next 6 generations. If that's true, it's madness. 

So what does this all mean for us at Mallin & Son?

We're going to take a more holistic view on the fashion world and hone in on the good that we can do and promote. I am going to limit what we release on the clothing front bur keep the made to order element in place so I'm not sitting on excess stock. 

I also want to promote our message through our designs and have recently soft-launched our Sports Club 1983. We're merging 'making a sport of fixing fashion' with my own love for running/sport and celebrating the change that we can all make. Last year we tapped into a new, younger audience with our Athletics Dept. range and we want to continue to influence that demographic when it comes to thinking about buying less and/or secondhand. 

The stats are out there to show that the tide is changing. We have been and will continue to be at the forefront of that as we continue to do the good work. 

Thanks for getting this far. 

Ryan,