Monday, 19th April 2010
We got a distress call at Sunspel HQ this afternoon from some good friends in New York. They told us that some friends of theirs have been trapped in the UK because of the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud, which is currently causing havoc with flights across Europe.
Friday, 16th April 2010
Our new neighbours (across the road from the Sunspel shop) have got the most fantastic roof terrace and they’ve just recently reopened it.
Wednesday, 7th April 2010
Sunspel clothing has appeared in recent weeks in both Dazed & Confused magazine (a self-consciously cool style mag) and the Mail on Sunday (a middle England favourite). We’ve also recently been featured in the Sunday Telegraph as well as GQ. It seems we cut across the normal boundaries. Or the normal boundaries are dissolving.
Wednesday, 31st March 2010
Well it may have a little scaffolding on it, but our first permanent London store is now truly open for business. We’ve spent the last week or two frantically preparing it, sorting out the interior and working on the exterior, and at last we’re proud to say we’re open.
Thursday, 11th March 2010
We dropped in on Merci in Paris the other day. What a great place to wander around.
It’s only been open about a year, and the idea is you can shop with a good conscience. The store donates all profits to a women’s charity in Madagascar, but it’s hardly your normal charity shop.
Monday, 15th February 2010
When Peter Hill (great-grandson of the company’s founder) returned to the Sunspel factory recently, he brought in an old minute book. This is where the company recorded what took place in management meetings, what decisions were reached, as well as keeping copies of correspondence.
It gives a fascinating flavour of the day to day goings on in a moderate sized British company 90 or so years ago – and there’s a certain poignancy, looking back after all these years, to see what was then routine now become just a fragment from a vanished world.
Wednesday, 10th February 2010
Here’s an advance announcement. We’re going to be opening a new, permanent London store in Shoreditch in the next few weeks. (And our Christmas store in Davies Street is now closed.)
The main reason we’re doing this is because people coming into our temporary Christmas store kept asking us when we’d be opening a proper shop. It seems you like being able to see our stuff before buying it.
Tuesday, 9th February 2010
Last week Peter Hill, great-grandson of the company’s founder, came back to the Sunspel factory for the first time since he sold it.
Mr Hill is now 85 and a wonderful fund of stories about the company and its clothes dating all the way back to before the war. (He remembers, for example, how clothing for the Far East market was decorated with complicated embroidery which set it apart from the competition.)
We gave him lunch in the showroom and showed him our new collection for autumn/winter 2011. Luckily he loved it. (We love it too and we’re excited about the new directions we’re going in. But more about that in future.)
We then took Mr Hill round the factory, where he spoke to many of the ladies who had worked for him for many years.
He also brought in a ‘minute book’ of Thomas A Hill & Co – full of wonderful details from way back at the beginning of the 20th century. We’re fascinated by the stuff we’ve read and we’ll be giving a glimpse of what’s inside in a future piece here on the site.
It was great pleasure to welcome back Peter Hill and very pleasing indeed that we have his blessing on the direction Sunspel is going in.
Tuesday, 26th January 2010
We’ve just recently got back from showing our autumn/winter 2010 collection at the menswear trade show Pitti Uomo in Florence. Pitti is a fashion institution and it’s where the trends for next season start emerging.For our stand we wanted to present something simple, where our clothes did the talking. We picked some Robin Day chairs for their classic modernist simplicity (and realised that by coincidence they’re what we have in our canteen back in Derbyshire – or at least we have the mass-produced stackable version).
These photos give a glimpse of some of the new t-shirt colours and boxer colours and patterns we’ll be introducing. Read full article »
Tuesday, 15th December 2009
