Every so often we like to have a catch up with our favourite brands and today we caught up with the nice folk at S.E.H Kelly. Based in London, they make an excellent range of garments using the best materials. Shirts, jackets, hats and trousers amongst other casual items that can be worn at any time whilst still maintaining a nice level of formality. And their Ventile outerwear items are simply out of this world, not to mention the Corduroy overshirts, we could go on and on, listing such items but we won't - we'll let you find them for yourselves. But first, have a read of what they had to say when we asked them a few questions.
Starting at the beginning - when was S.E.H Kelly founded? And how did it start?
There are two of us at S.E.H Kelly, and we began in 2009. Sara had spent her career working on Savile Row, for tailoring and couture houses - the sort of places that make smoking-jackets for lords, three-piece suits for titans of industry, ball-gowns for Royals, that type of thing. A very good place to work in some ways, since, over that time, she built up good relationships with some very high-end British mills and factories. When her time on Savile Row came to an end - which coincided with me twiddling my thumbs and wondering what to do - we decided that it'd be clever to use those same sources to make more casual, everyday clothing. And so S.E.H Kelly began.
What inspires the garments produced?
It all just comes out of our heads. I can't really pinpoint influences. We often start with finding cloth, and then thinking "what would this be good for?" We visited a cotton mill the other week, in Lancashire, and found some a very thick and dry indigo cotton cord. Seems good for a work jacket, we thought. Then we start thinking about shape and pockets and collars and structure and so on.
Do you have a favourite piece that you have created so far?
I think the Kelly collar shirt. It is the only thing that bears the family name. Even though it is simple, it took a very long time to get right.
How important is it that you know where each element of each garment is made?
For us, the garment is the end result of a long and enjoyable process of research, design, and working closely with various different makers, all over the British Isles. We released a wool vest, late last year, which incorporated cloth and components from four or five different suppliers, with whom we had worked closely to reach just the right result. Without that side of the job, I don't see much point. There is nothing to sink your teeth into. Whether this is important to our customers - well, that's another matter. Most people want nicely designed clothing, which fits them well; I imagine that how and where those things are made is usually further down their list of priorities.
What plans do you have for the future?
Over the past 12 months, a few little side-projects have come about through the mills and factories we work with - so we are currently designing and making a few non-garment things which we haven't done before. Not much, but a few very well-made things, which we hope will complement the other things we sell. We're also planning a sort of shop-in-shop event with a very big store in Tokyo, later this year. it will stock a few exclusive garments, to which we're putting the finishes touches this week, and it is keeping us nice and busy.
We'd like to thank S.E.H Kelly for their time and remember to check out their website http://www.sehkelly.com/ or visit them at their workshop located in London.
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