Who Made My Clothes?
Jamie is our finisher, finalising garments back from the machinists. Every button hole, button, dome and belt loop on every garment is the work and patience of Jamie. She is stepping up to manage the workroom, coordinating the many special orders and stock production. Jamie draws up patterns, cuts custom orders, stock and new designs.

This week is Fashion Revolution week and we are welcoming transparency and are profiling the small team behind Mandatory with the aim to answer the campaign question: #whomademyclothes

Who Made My Clothes?
Hannah is our store and digital content manager. She runs the day to day operations of the shop and co-ordinates fittings and suit consultations with clients. Hannah is also responsible for the website and social media channels. She regularly shoots new products in store to make sure guys (and their potential present buyers) are kept up to date with the latest arrivals. This is a huge role and she sets the pace for others to work to.

This week is Fashion Revolution week and we are welcoming transparency and profiling the small team behind Mandatory with the aim to answer the campaign question: #whomademyclothes 

Who Made My Clothes?
Manisha is our multi talented graduate who splits her time between the workroom and the store. Some days she’s retailing in the store and other days she can be found cutting orders and stock in the workroom (or running in between the two with garments!) Manisha is also in charge of quality control and makes sure that all garments are pressed and tagged and have their finishing touches before they hit the shop floor.

This week we are welcoming transparency and have been profiling the small team behind Mandatory with the aim to answer the campaign question: #whomademyclothes 

“The humble shed has been the birthplace of many men’s projects - doing up bikes, restoring furniture and potting vegetables. But for Clare Bowden and Fiona Edwards, a garden shed was the beginning of a different kind of project - the menswear label, Mandatory.”

Pleased to be profiled for by the New Zealand Fashion Museum  - many thanks to Kelly Dix and Doris de Pont - you can read the full article on their site here

We were lucky enough to fit and dress the charming Sam and Emmett from The Block NZ and they had some very nice things to say about their Mandatory experience. Article written by James Butters for arcana imperii 

Published 14 August 2016 

The hugely popular Sam & Emmett from The Block NZ will today finally be able to jump out of their daily paint-ridden attire to dress in their stylish suits for today’s live auction where the house they’ve been building over the last 2 - 3 months will be sold on live television. For this climactic episode they asked us to help them find something perfectly tailored to them and to the occasion, so we recommended they meet with Clare at Mandatory to help dress them for their final block appearance. I sat down with the boys after their final fitting for a quick chat about their experience at Mandatory.

Sam: “Well it was Mandatory to go there after you told us about it.” (he said with a cheeky grin)

Emmett: “I think it’s pretty impressive to behold [Clare’s] understanding and knowledge. Sizing you up by sight. I think she did one measurement around the chest and then knew every single size that we should have been and our body type. And the fact that she’s been doing this for over 20 years, even seeing us on telly she had known in advance what our body shapes looked like and, when we came in, what changes needed to be made.”

Sam: “I’ve always struggled with, especially my legs and my body type, with buying stuff. Pants are really hard to buy. Any store you go into they just put you in a medium or a small and they never really think of it much. But it was kind of funny that [Clare] knew the struggle before I had even told her as well. She just kind of told me what my struggle was when it was almost hard to explain to other shops. In other shops I would just say I’ve got a big bum and they would say well you need a bigger size rather than we need to do this and we need to do that to the pants.”

Emmett: “The ease of it I suppose, to get the right fit. Their whole business concept, which seems really simple in a way, is don’t hold everything on the rack because the standard sizes, even if they normally fit you OK, aren’t always the best size. So what you really have to do is find some pants that you like and then make them work around your body type. When you think about it that’s a really simple way to do it and for them their tailoring is really quick and easy and they’re crushing it.”

Sam: “Yeah, she almost tells you what you want to hear when it comes to colours and sizes as well. You go in not knowing one hundred percent what you want but it’s quite funny that I’ve left with the exact colour that I wanted but I never told her what I actually wanted. Like I actually didn’t get to the point where I said I wanted this certain colour but it’s the one I’ve left with because she knew it was the one that would compliment everything about me. She’s incredible”

Emmett: “I think actually just chatting to her and having that conversation she sort of knew a little more about us, like she took that time just to go ‘OK, chuck some pants on, we’ll have a play around and look at that, and while we’re looking…’ and then she’d just get to know us more and understand who we are. And that’s where the colour comments came in, she’d say 'I kind of want something a little more moody to bring out a bit of serious and a bit of corporate and a bit of this because of what you do, it’s a serious nature’. So she’s tailoring to the human as well as the occasion.”