If you wanna do something right the first time, you gotta take your time. Rushing to the finish line only makes it more likely that something valuable will be forgotten en route. This is how STORY Mfg. operates, because you can't make slow fashion quickly.
In fact, the term "slow fashion" is bandied about quiet frequently these days, perhaps even often enough to make it lose its meaning in certain circles. So let's re-establish what exactly that term means: versatile clothes made at the pace necessary to ensure ethical production with quality fabrics, forgot fashion industry norms and forget hyped drops.
Even a slow fashion brand can indulge in stylistic flourishes, though, and STORY Mfg.'s recent collections have offered plenty of statement layering pieces.
The ROOTS collection is exactly the opposite, a season-less selection of core silhouettes crafted to STORY's typically exquisite standard and made special not by attention-grabbing details but through natural dyes that saturate the easy-on shirts, jackets, pants, and bags with rich organic color.
"ROOTS is releasing now because it’s ready now. We’ve been working on it for ages (and years in our minds) but things take months and months to make and dye," STORY Mfg. co-founder Saeed Al-Rubeyi told Highsnobiety.
"When we started, Story was all quite plain, naturally dyed bits. We’ve sort of returned to the roots of the brand (no pun intended) in terms of what we are interested in.
"As we developed more craft and patterns with more people, our toolbox grew, and now collections are so jam-packed with detail and craft that items where the dye itself were the focus kind of got pushed to the margin, even though they're the heart of the brand."
ROOTS, available on STORY Mfg's website and Brighton flagship, is uniform dressing filtered through STORY's lens. Wardrobe staples doused in hues sourced from true indigo, sappan wood, tree bark, and fruits.
It's as simple as it sounds and yet not simple at all, as you'd expect from the brand that reintroduced the physical fashion catalog.
The garments are easy, yes, but they're also especially intentional in their baggy fits and made individually distinct due to the inherent properties of the dyestuffs.
"Since developing these items have found myself in them almost as a new uniform," Al-Rubeyi continued.
"I know the idea of a ‘uniform’ is a tired fashion trope but a look built with roots always works together because the colors are natural. I’ve worn these to weddings over the summer, out at the pub, around the house — everywhere."
