A man whose substantial experience speaks volumes, Ian Paley has seen a storied history working for the likes of prestigious brands such as Paul Smith, Burberry and Levi’s. In addition to lending his vision and insight to a range of influential labels, Paley is also the founder and creative driving force behind Couverture & Garbstore – two well-respected haberdasheries/womenswear outfitters and homeware purveyors. Paley recently opened up to Glenn Kitson and MANUFACTURE MAGAZINE for a three-part interview to discuss his early beginnings, the relationship between retail and fashion, manufacturing and quality production, and a few of the lessons learned along the way.

PART [1/3]

Tell us how you got started please?
Graphic design was a family trade; I had an uncle and aunty that did a lot of graphic work so it was always assumed that I would go into designing myself. I was always into clothes though. I worked in clothes shops and grew up in a northeast town where things pretty much revolved around football and the pub. With that background you tended to know about two things – wearing the right clothes to chase the girls and what happened at the match that day. So I ended up doing fashion, going to university and learning the basics of menswear.
I was learning the properties of cloth, the textile game and then learning to cut patterns – which was the most important skill to learn. You look at 90% of the menswear designers today and hardly any of them can cut a pattern, they were not taught it. They just look at other people’s designs and try and change a pocket here or a seam there. They call it ‘product design’ but they’ve never learned to cut and see how things fit. Only when you’ve done that can you come up with something new.


What about working life, where did you begin?
After university the first job I got was at Paul Smith, which involved pretty much running his whole casual-wear thing. Then after a year I helped to set up some of the ‘shop in shops’ in Japan with a very good team of people. It was a marvelous company and I had quite a lot of freedom with no one to answer to. It was a fairly small group of us with a handful of people doing everything with a very little support team, so you got to put in a massive amount of work and see the development. Right the way through from doing the pattern, buying the fabric, going to factories, then I would go to the selling shows, and then merchandising it in the shops and seeing the whole process through from start to finish. I would also get involved in the ad campaigns and develop how the product was presented in the magazines etc. It was good work and I enjoyed it.

What early lessons did you learn?
I learned to make decisions based on costs and effectiveness and I learned to make them in a heartbeat. So when the time came to do my own stuff and it was my own money I was putting in it made you question these decisions even more. It was good; it meant you could cut through the crap very quickly and attempt to get it right from the offset.

Because I cut my teeth into the trade when it was ‘Brit-pop’ and everyone was looking at Britain in the 90’s, it was absolutely booming and it felt like you could do anything. Whether, you where good or bad it didn’t really matter as long as you were British you had a great chance of succeeding.


You eventually moved on though?

Yeah, eventually I got bored and did other things. I spent some time in San Francisco consulting for Levi’s and I also spent some time in Barcelona doing some stuff for Burberry. I spent a good few years on a plane and spent a lot of time doing some interesting projects and more importantly meeting some very talented and genuinely brilliant people. I saw how much bigger operations operate and what it takes to achieve stuff in a management structure, which is probably the biggest lesson I’ve learned– how to manage properly. You can have the best idea in the world and the perfect market but if you have the wrong management in place then things will stall and get misinterpreted. 

Luckily many of the contacts I developed when working for Paul (Smith), especially in Japan have gone on to bigger and better things, many of them heading up their own brands or corporations. These were just drinking buddies of mine but developing those contacts and maintaining those friendships has really helped me and it’s nice to think that we have all contributed to the scene.

PART [2/3]

How did you get into retail then?
My wife and I had a shop in Kings Road for years where we sold kidswear, homeware and a lot of vintage products. We sold bed linen from India that was dyed on this rooftops in Deli, it was a very interesting store. It was all pre-9/11 so it was full of Americans. Post 9/11 you can see the results, that part of London is a very different kettle of fish. So I had a taste of retail although, not through menswear but some of the other things we were selling. So I learned about the staff needed, about retail systems and the general mechanics of how to work and run a shop properly.


You also set up One True Saxon. 

Yes, I started One True Saxon with two business partners and we had a lot of laughs with the brand. It was great while it lasted. We sold it when it had run its course and the offers were good. It needed to be absorbed into a much bigger machine because there are certain plateau’s you reach in any business. You can go for years doing well but then find yourself flat lining and then you have to reinvest 20 or 30 times what ever you made out of it to get to the next plateau. At this point you need investors and you either do that by risking the house you have just bought or you just sell it.

So you decided to draw a line under it and move onto the next one?
Selling it was the right thing to do. They turned it into a machine and we were never that serious about it in the first place. So I walked away and did something else, and that’s where Garbstore came in.

It seems the perfect graduation from OTS?
The idea had been bubbling away in the back of my head for a good couple of years before we started it. What I wanted to do was represent the very best of menswear and focus on the product that wasn’t getting the limelight or the brands that weren’t spending a lot on advertising. I really wanted to focus on people who were excelling at making clothing and it didn’t matter if they were selling to a couple of stores or a thousand. It was a genuinely satisfying experience. 

I was able to go to my friends in Japan and tell them I was opening a shop and that I would like to see their stuff.

I know you are a champion of functional clothing and the performance–led product within the menswear market. From a retailer’s perspective, could you give us an insight into the state of production currently in the market?
Well, it’s not just a sewing machine. With anything performance related you have to have the fabric mills making the cloth and in Britain it is still that very traditional kind of cloth. It tends to be wax cotton or Ventile, which is an amazing cloth but it’s 80-year-old technology. It’s got a great story, wasn’t it the first guy who went to the Pole wearing Ventile? But technology has moved on since then.

For us it’s a case of finding where the machines are to make this stuff. There are outerwear factories in Eastern Europe, Bulgaria or Poland, which a lot of people use. Some very good brands make stuff out there but in Britain I am yet to find a high-spec, high-tech factory capable of producing these garments. By and large it’s sent abroad, it’s not done on our soil. This machinery is expensive.

Years ago I made some very good technical outerwear at a very good factory in Portugal that could do all the heat welding and seam sealing but it was the laser cutting and bonding that they couldn’t do. It does seem like a huge investment for a factory to buy all this machinery and the skill to use it as well because it’s not just a case of sewing a straight line. You need a very skilled worker to operate this level of machinery and advancements happen very quickly with technical outerwear. Then there are the fabrics, you are essentially melting and welding fabrics so each type will react differently.

So in your experience, where are the best places to get this stuff made?
You find the far-east factories are bigger because the demand is bigger. They have a huge domestic market, which is obviously the Chinese buying for China, and this encourages modern product. Then you have the western demand for Chinese made product. These days it’s less about inexpensive manufacture. It can be very expensive to make laser cut, bonded garments and also the fabrics are very expensive. So I think it is more about the accountability and the reliability of producing over there. When you fire off an email you know to expect one back with an answer. You know the product will turn up on time and the production quality will be as good as it can be. That’s why I think they have cornered the market.

From my own experience, the good factories invest to encourage business as opposed to react to business requests. It’s a very horizontal landscape over there, you have the guy making the buttons on the same road as the guys who make the zips, next to the guys providing the taping. There are similarities to the car industry or electronics industry where it’s about the availability of the components and how quickly they can be delivered.

If you read the documents about the viability of an American made iPod then it also translates into the sports performance market in the Far East in terms of vertical business in which you can get all the parts readily and not have to wait six weeks for them to turn up.

PART [3/3]

Are there many myths created by the west regarding Eastern manufacture?
Yes & no, it’s an easy negative strap line that fits allot of peoples attitudes, but as ever the real issues are incredibly complex and differ massively from place to place, it’s impossible to define a country with just one ‘catch phrase’ no matter how much it suits the current outlook. Look at the electronics market. We only have to go back to the 1970s when the strap line in the UK press was ‘Made in Japan’ was crap. It was supposed to be cheap rubbish and it’s since proved to be that it wasn’t cheap rubbish. Because it was such an advancement of new technology the myth soon went out the window when it became clear that the only good stuff you could find was made in Japan. Chinese-made sports performance is the same. 

There’s a joke in one of the Back To The Future films when the doc says something won’t work because ‘it’s made in Japan’ and everybody laughed because by then everyone had realised this wasn’t the case.

Bringing things back around to retail, how do you see the sports performance market?
Well, we are now at the back end of the ‘heritage boom’ in menswear so the obvious knee jerk reaction will be for everything to go very technical and neon (laughs) because people crave the most different thing. The heritage scene is a very grown up and considered thing now, but when everyone is making good product things become boring. Anyone can spend a grand on a bench, some cotton and some thread and knock a few items of clothes out but the really interesting stuff is in the technical market, not many people can laser cut fabric! If you have an inroad with a good factory who can make this stuff then that’s what you should be doing but then it becomes an overhead issue. These factories are capable of turning out thousands of pieces of product hence why it’s limited to better known outerwear and performance brands because they have the facilities, they have invested in the technologies for their own gear. It’s very hard to find a good independent factory that will turn out small runs of product for you, so I think it will be a slow burner until we get there. The heritage trend was always going to be easy to blow up, it was all about cotton thread and hardly any technical aspect at all, but it’s very hard for a brand in the performance field to start up without huge investment.

However, I truly believe the performance market is about to happen; it’s almost there now, you only have to go to Japan (who are usually a few years ahead of us) to see how many outdoor focused stores there are now, how many specialist outdoors stores. We even found women only hiking stores over there, which were unbelievable with not just one or two products but hundreds of them! The market is already in place in Japan for it so it’s only a matter of time before that look sweeps over here but again. Japan has thousands of independent stores that are susceptible to this and in Britain you can count them on one hand who would be interested in this sort of thing. I think it has to move out of the very old fashioned climbing, hiking, walking stores that we still have. 

I think with the decline in these traditional hiking stores and the decline in the heritage menswear market we will see something new and fresh and that will be the very high-spec performance stuff. 


When people like Ian Paley talk you’d do well to listen and while the heritage boom was invariably sold as a timeless return to the roots of classic menswear, the fact remains there was an element of trend about its popularity. And as Ian rightly says, when any scene becomes stagnant, people crave something from the opposite end of the scale and that could be performance manufacture.

Photography: Mark Smith and Glenn Kitson

We recently ran into Ian Pailey during the Jacket Required menswear trade show to talk about the latest collection of Garbstore for Fall/Winter 2012. The progressive label continues to advance with its established line of reworked heritage designs with an unparalleled Japanese craftsmanship. In addition, Pailey revisits and infuses the early ‘70s fashion into a variety of garments that are constructed with new silhouette and understated color scheme. For its fifth year anniversary, it should be fitting to introduce a bevy of accessories that represents the most recent product lines from Garbstore, including a range of Scottish wool gloves, camera bag and a collaborative eyewear range.

Director: Santiago Arbelaez

The Less 2011 fall/winter video lookbook utilizes a theme of “going out” as a jumping off point for inspiration. The Taiwanese-based retailer showcases brands including Norse Projects, Bleu de Paname, Garbstore, Penfield, Carhartt, Pointer, 9five, Less and Lafayette. For information on the availability of the finely-crafted garments, check out lesscrew.com or visit them in-store at the below address.

Lower East Side
No. 116-B1, Yijhong St.
North District, Taichung City
Taiwan

From Peters Mountain Works comes a new vintage-inspired bag called the Overlook Rucksack. The bag comes in a rugged, lightweight fabric made by Cordura as well as two different colorways: khaki and navy. The rucksack has adjustable shoulder straps, a front pouch with zip closure, and open pouch pocket with adjustable fastening. It also features some great contrast taping in orange and purple (on the khaki) model and a small “Made in the USA” tag on the front pouch. And for those who plan to use the bag for daily use, it features an internal padded pocket perfect for a laptop. Currently, the bag is available exclusively at Garbstore, at the price of £95 GBP (approximately $150 USD).

For the holiday season, London’s Garbstore holds true to its billing of unique drops. The lineup consists of in-store product highlighted by an old Ministry of Defense sign taken from Britain’s Aircraft Carrier Fleet. Amongst the goods, you will notice a variety of more casual items, most of which highlight an earth tone color palette, and are versatile enough to be dressed up or down. Head on over to Garbstore to further investigate some new releases available in-store.

Fred Perry is pleased to announce its second drop of the “Friends of Fred” Fall/Winter 2011 collection. This particular project involves some of the finest British labels and craftsmen that share Fred Perry’s vision for simple lines, classic colors and getting all the details right. Chosen collaborators include John Smedley, Garbstore and Alfred Sargent, each offering a particular piece for the capsule. These exclusive pieces are available now through Fredperry.com.

With an extensive knowledge of the industry and a background in design, it’s no wonder that Ian Paley has repeatedly been given accolade for his UK-based menswear brand Garbstore. Focusing on heritage styles that are produced in Asia from some of the highest quality materials, the label is able to manufacture garments that are unparalleled in craftsmanship. We caught up with Paley at (capsule) New York to discuss the brand and talk about the upcoming collection.

Tell us a little about the collection for Spring/Summer 2012. What was the basis behind it?
The title of the SS12 line is “FOE workers,” which means one of several things to us: FOE (“French or English”), FOE (“Friend or Enemy”), or FOE (“Faux”) meaning false workers. These three concepts pretty much rule our constant ideas – the old rivalry between the English and the French, the similar tastes in workwear and historical garments, the idea that things can be faked, and that people don’t always get along. This collection of garments references all of these points in a way that is seemingly hidden but means something personal to us.

The entire premise of the Garbstore collections are, essentially, to take old heritage products and reproduce them. How do you manage to find the right balance between retaining the authenticity of these garments while also finding ways to update them for the modern customer?
I think the main point of difference is that we don’t do reproduction, we do imagined reproduction – garments that could have existed or have been adopted and altered to create a new idea. Most of our ideas come from text, phrases, lyrics – we try to create the feeling and the environment first, and then imagine what the clothes of that era would be like, referencing original style, trims and fabrics. We reproduce the elements but the final idea is new.

Unlike some brands that commonly overlook the presentation of their collections, Garbstore has found a way to set itself apart from other retailers by releasing some very unique and creative lookbooks. How did the idea come about to place more focus on this particular element?
I think that it comes from us being free enough to be spontaneous with this part of what we do. It’s never really planned that well in advance and I often tend to wait until we actually have the product out in order to feel the mood of how that book should be so that we don’t guess too far in advance.

Although the label is well-known for its Japanese-produced products, for the Fall/Winter 2011 collection Garbstore relied heavily on domestic manufacturers. Why did you decide to do this and what kind of response did you receive from loyal followers of the brand?
I always keep our manufacturing doctrine simple: we make in the place that will benefit the garment most. Over the years we’ve made a lot of goods on our doorstep, we just haven’t felt the need to shout about it as that is what your brand can quickly become about. Soon the clothes have become secondary and the dumbing down of your idea really shows in what can become horrifically basic items. For us it’s just about going wherever we need to go in order to remove the limitations of developing our ideas in full. It’s funny, we actually see no difference in reaction from our customers to goods that we make here in the UK.

Although most people tend to assume (mistakenly) that producing a product overseas has a negative impact on its quality, there are plenty of factories located abroad with far more advanced technologies than ones in the U.S. or the UK. How are these newer, more sophisticated technologies affecting the garment industry in terms of high-tech fabrics and materials and what impact do they have on your design philosophy?
It’s really having a huge impact for the bigger ideas. For example, we just came back from Berlin where we showed SS12 and in a room of 70 brands. Not a single one of them is using or even has access to the more cutting edge technologies that should move us away from the heritage trend. It was all 100% cotton all the way. It’s not such a bad thing, but the mix required to push the market forward at the moment is limited to larger companies who can afford to shoehorn niche development lines onto the back of some pretty large mid-market production. I hope that, somehow, the smaller facilities will offer smaller brands an opportunity to grow their knowledge base as this would make for a pretty exciting time ahead.

What plans are in store for the brand over the coming months?
It’s time for heads down. Our plans aren’t grand; just to get on with what we do is enough for us.

London’s retail shop and in-house brand Garbstore present a quirky albeit alluring collection of looks in this mid-season lookbook. Favoring inanimate model figures to exhibit the retailer’s new releases, so too were intricate and detailed replicas of the original garments concocted. Garbstore conceptualizes a lineup of relaxed looks that utilize a bevy of solids and patterns presented on the typical spring-fare of shirts, shorts, pants and blazers.

The versatile “Billy” chukka boot from Garbstore features a grey suede upper with tonal laces, contrast stitching and a small “GNO” motif embossed on the back of the heel. The boot also has a thick white outsole for added comfort that’s accented with a bright blue color around the base of the shoe. Priced at $2,200 HKD (approximately $280 USD), the Billy chukka is available for purchase through Kapok.

Kapok
G/F. St. Francis Yard (near Star Street)
Wanchai
Hong Kong

Photography: Hypebeast

Combining the culture of London and Tokyo, British retailer Garbstore has collaborated with Japanese label BEDWIN & THE HEARTBREAKERS on this limited edition canvas messenger bag. Inspired by one of BEDWIN & THE HEARTBREAKERS’s previous messenger bag styles, this one features a large, bold print with the word “LNER,” referencing London’s railway system. With the name of each label branded on the shoulder strap, the messenger bag retails for ¥58,800 (approximately $720 USD) and will be available through Garbstore.

Source: honeyee