Who Made My Clothes? Clare is co-founder and designer of Mandatory and the Director of the whole operation. She started out managing the manufacturing workroom and moved to shop floor during the GFC, often coordinating manufacturing at night. These days she buys cloth and co-designs the range, coordinates the manufacturing schedule and works alongside the managers of both sites. She is responsible for some of the longest selling designs in the store. She handles the trickiest of suiting, casual fittings, and draft patterns. Clare also consults on wardrobes for busy men. She keeps regular weekly shifts on the shop floor and works hard to be the great boss she is constantly praised as being.
This week is Fashion Revolution week and we are welcoming transparency by profiling the small team of makers behind Mandatory with the aim to answer the campaign question: #whomademyclothes
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
Open 8 October - 5 November 2016, Saturdays 12-4pm, Tuesday to Friday 10am-5pm
At the Gus Fisher Gallery in Auckland, Free entry
In March 1959, artist June Black explored ideas of ‘the self’ in an exhibition titled, Intellectual Fashion Show. Bringing together her paintings, ceramic wall sculptures and a provocative commentary she presented the concept of an 'intellectual fashion house’. The aim of its imagined director, M. Henri Folli, was “to dress the mind away from commonplace associations…”.
June framed fashion as an armour to protect the self from the rigours of daily life, social hypocrisy and cultural expectations. And over the course of her life and writing she devised a whole wardrobe of metaphorical costumes.
More than 60 years later, the New Zealand Fashion Museum and Blikfang Gallery are revisiting June’s original ideas with an exhibition at the Gus Fisher Gallery in Auckland. The aim of the Intellectual Fashion Show 2016 is to further advance M. Henri Folli’s most worthy cause, offering participants a platform to experiment with the expressive potential of what we wear to fashion the body and the mind and to explore the rich complexity of the real-self.
The exhibition curators have invited more than 50 fashion designers, milliners, jewellers, visual artists, poets, ceramic artists and other creatives - including established names Liz Findlay, WORLD, Margo Barton, Fran Allison, Peter Madden, Louise Rive, Karen Inderbitzen Waller - to select one of June’s metaphorical costumes and explore the idea of the transformative power of dress.
To imagine what a 'costume to be worn over a heavy heart’ might look like? Or a 'hat for elevated thoughts’? And what makes for a 'costume in which to invite undiluted pleasure’? Or consider these:
- Costume to get onto one’s high horse - Costume to face the world of the commonplace - Costume to be worn over a heavy heart - Costume to flaunt tedious advice and swing off into bright danger - Costume to joyfully accept the success of others without a sigh - Costume to extend exalted moments - Costume to face the ultimate discomfit of the guillotine, the gallows or the dentist
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
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.”
A couple of candid backstage shots from the ‘East meets West’ Show for Chinese New Year Festival on Saturday night, was such a fantastic, collaborative event and celebration of culture in our city. How good do these guys look? Huge thanks to Linda and the team for including us and congratulations to all involved on such a great night!
“The East Meets West Celebration Show at the TSB Bank Arena last night welcomed in the Year of the Monkey, as part of the Chinese New Year Festival. It truly was a cultural extravaganza, bringing together eastern and western culture through the universal language of storytelling in the performing arts. 30 of Xiamen’s performing artists (dance, song, and music) joined forces with some of Wellington’s best in a fusion of their individual crafts. Together they successfully highlighted eastern and western performance, combining contemporary form with the traditional. The end result proving without a doubt, there is strength in cultural collaboration. As Xiamen is Wellington’s sister city the show was particularly poignant, highlighting the bond, through cultural exchange, existing between New Zealand and China.”
Ever wondered what happens to fabric offcuts at Mandatory?
All garments are cut in tight lay plans with minimal waste in the cutting process. Bigger scrap pieces of cloth are stashed in the workroom to use for repairs, patches and piece replacements or waistband extensions for customers.
Bigger ends and sample lengths we decide not to use are donated to sewing classes for young mums in the Hutt Valley through friends of Mandatory.
Smaller pieces where we have too many cuff / collar bits of a fabric are bagged and sent on to kids art projects in holiday programmes run by renowned sculptor Gabby O’Connor. Kids in her classes have been heard to exclaim “my Dad has pants in this”!! (see pictures above)
Unusable offcuts from cut runs are sent for rag up-cycle at the tip.
Reduce, Re-use, Recycle. It’s #Mandatory
Personal Wardrobe Planning
Mandatory is pleased to offer a personal wardrobe planning consultation service.
For many of our clients a comprehensive plan where pieces work together to create a functional wardrobe is the most efficient and effective approach to allocating money for clothing over a season of work, functions and fun. Our service identifies existing pieces that work, recognises garments that have potential but may need minor adjustments to the fit and pinpoints key gaps in the wardrobe. We make suggestions that bring pieces together. We also offer advice on accessories, shoes and function wear as well as how to best care for your wardrobe.
Consultations begin in store where there are examples of likely types of garments to identify your taste and wardrobe needs: Style/textures/colours/levels of formality/lifestyle requirements.
We then schedule a time to visit with you at your house. In-home wardrobe consultations are relaxed and efficient and take between 1-2 hours.
The main focus is to put outfits together within your wardrobe for different events and scenarios. We do this by identifying what’s working well, recognising any ‘gaps’ and by making suggestions for pieces that would bring the wardrobe together. We bring samples, swatches, pictures and record ideas for things you express interest in, which can later be fitted and made for you back at the store. We also organise alterations for existing pieces where needed.
The cost of this consultation is $200 with no strings attached – you are not obliged to purchase anything after the consultation. If, however you find suggestions useful and it results in us making things for you, the $200 is offset against purchases at a rate of $50 per item.
You will be provided with a ‘Style File’ summarising your consultation, advice and our suggestions on future purchases and things to look for. As the season progresses its not uncommon for us to contact clients with relevant suggestions as they arrive in stock
Testimonial:
Clare and Hannah delivered great advice on my wardrobe. I approached Clare with the suggestion that I needed help! I had learnt to trust Clare and Hannah when buying clothes at Mandatory over the last many years. Their advice was clear and tailored (no pun intended) to what I wanted my business wardrobe to do for me. I confessed to making some bad choices in the past. Expensive clothes that I only wore once! I got it right a few times too, but without thinking about how it would work with the whole wardrobe. I have every faith that with their advice that won’t happen again. Also they made it easy to think about how various items go together. With their help I know that I can get more out of the investment I’m making in clothes. Also it wasn’t a sales exercise to get me to buy Mandatory. They give great advice on other brands as well. Highly recommended. – Bernie White
To find out more about wardrobe planning and the ways we can help please call us or email info@mandatory.co.nz
We spun a yarn with Absolutely Positively Wellington blogger and good dude Martyn about what we do and why we love it, and felt like he totally got our gig. Check out the full article on Wellington NZ
Clare, Julia and Jamie were interviewed by the lovely Sonia Sly in our workroom for Radio New Zealand National - If you missed the interview and wanted to hear the team talk about the ins and outs of how New Zealand men shop, and why we continue to develop and make quality menswear you can catch the full interview and Q&A below
Sonia: What was the menswear market like when you first started out?
Clare: There was a really big gap in the market and we were instantly popular. Saatchi’s sent their front guys to get uniforms [and] we had all sorts of clients ready to go. Particularly the Polynesian community really stood out because they hadn’t found garments that fitted them, that were their flavour off-the-rack, so they really appreciated the sort of fabrics and builds we could get up. It is an extremely difficult area to work in— guys are not the keenest shoppers, they don’t turn up seasonally, but just as they need things, but we’ve worked really hard to work create our own niche and that is offering a custom fit to make things right for people. It’s created a whole lot of loyalty, and increasingly, respect from an ecological and ethical point of view…there’s lots of good reasons to support a little business and get a great result.
Sonia: Why menswear, and not womenswear?
Clare: I actually had a very successful women’s wear label that I sold through Zana Feuchs stores in the mid-nineties. I really enjoyed it, I loved the fabrics, it was great!
Sonia: So you might revisit womenswear one day?
Clare: Every time I see a fabric range I give it a thought! But I just loved menswear. It was my strongest subject at design school. I love the interface with clients that we have. We’re really building things for people to have success, whether it’s in their relationships on date night or their various business pitches—it’s great fun to be working on Cuba street amongst that.
Sonia: How did Mandatory come about?
Clare: I was sharing a house with a builder who lined a shed for me—we set up the first cutting table in there.
Sonia: You co-design with business partner Fiona Edwards: what is your process and how do you work together?
Clare: Fiona is trained in a textiles background, [so] she would want to source and develop a whole fabric idea to go with a fashion garment. As a result of the designs that she will come up with we are often sourcing specific fabrics for it. My practice is to work with fabrics that we’ve already found, so it’s faster, but the two approaches is that it lead to a lot more creativity. We assemble fabrics, sourcing and purchasing year round because we drop in small runs to strengthen the range when needed. This also allows us to repeat our best sellers.
Sonia: What is the most important aspect of your design process?
Clare: The most important thing really with the designs is to make sure you’re using great fabrics in an appropriate way. We are always working on wardrobe: a collection that represents a wardrobe of ideas to cover all occasions. We then sell along the same lines. If guys really love a piece, they will understand what to put it with, and when they are going to wear it, and tick off a gap in their wardrobe.
Sonia: You made the decision early on not to wholesale, what are the benefits of that?
Clare: It’s definitely saved us during the recession to not overextend ourselves in terms of product pre-made. Fabric is really expensive and putting labour on top, it results in an expense that you’ve got out laid that you’re then gambling on in order for people to find value in it, to make that final purchase. What we do is garner a great deal of orders ahead of production, and that carries us through and allows us to manufacture a considerable amount, with a very high hit rate.
Sonia: Mandatory is all about getting the perfect fit, so how have you customised your label to work in a variety of different needs?
Clare: Rather than be remaking stock, we can make specific orders for people whether it’s changing the shape up or finding a firmer fabric, or a lighter fabric, or a deeper colour; changing the collar shape, maybe. We charge them the same as off the rack. WE run several lines of garments that are built for a cyclist shape; they’re needing everything from casual wear through to suits and work wear [they have] quite a bit of front thigh muscle, so those sort of components are built into our rack garments already. There’s a very diverse ethnicity over a really small population in New Zealand, so the 2XL guy might be a shorter beer drinking Scot, a broad but very lean Polynesian, or a tall Dutchy.
Sonia: What have you got coming up this season?
Clare: Chambray is back, and we’ve been using a lot of linen the last few seasons. It’s incredibly durable and looks fantastic when it’s old. Summer garments are going through the wash a great deal of the time, particularly on guys, so things need to have a long life and when they’re ancient and worn out still look fun for the batch. We’ve got a stretch linen that we’ve been using in a casual dress trouser—it’s very, very good for crease resistance. Some linens crease more than others, for instance with stripes, it will hide a great deal of creasing and that’s where the fashion for checked shirts go on… and on.
Sonia: Part of your ethos is about making classic items that can be worn time and time again.
Clare: Guys don’t buy as many clothes and they want that price per wear. That’s what we’re delivering: that people will want to wear it a lot and when they do, it’s going to last.
Sonia: What have you noticed about the way that men shop compared to 5-10 years ago?
Clare: There’s such an awareness to have your own personal style now whether it be for music or art, or self-expression. There are decisions to be made about what you’re prepared to spend on clothes as well. The rise of chain stores and online shopping is exposing guys to a whole lot of garments, but they could tip over to buying a whole lot of stuff, that’s just stuff. There’s a lot of competition for what people can spend their money on, but it is really important when buying fashion to try things on and make good decisions because it’s expensive and somebody, somewhere, has spent all of that time making it. [It’s] incredibly wasteful how many garments are not being worn by people and I think guys are starting to move into that danger zone of that kind of shopping, because all options are available to everybody.
A little look into how we came to be involved in SHOW Wellington
“We want to give Wellington retail an incentive to get Wellingtonians excited about the local & New Zealand design scene. We want to do this by showcasing creative inputs from designers of fashion, furniture, and interiors to hair stylists, producers, photographers, models, landscapers and more.
We want to revitalize and reinvigorate Wellington’s design scene with a series of conceptual events that steer away from fashion’s traditional catwalk presentation and move towards design collaboration and [Wellington] lifestyles. Fashion, interior, landscape, architecture, visual art, hair, make up, furniture, lighting, colour, textile, space, industrial, tech: DESIGN.”
Industry friends Mark Westerby Random Films , Kirsty Bunny KBM Modelling agency, Bex Brent WillisYork Hair with four other partners put the idea to us .. and followed through. A first year event, with ambition to impress and engage 150 invited guests, it was a great success and much is planned for it’s future as an annual event to SHOWcase the design scene in Wellington.
BoConcept and Mandatory collaborative space was designed as a series of three spaces (with statement furniture we could command and demand the room!)
Our current range ‘Monodramatic; monochromatic+dramatic’ set the mood for single colour themed rooms. Identifying favourite garments that worked with incredible furniture pieces was a career highlight. We learned a lot from Edward and Annalise with regards to furnishing spaces and they were very generous to set our clothes at their best. We were blown away by their beautiful lights, speaker sound systems, and furniture. We put handsome models in the rooms to relax in a haze of dry ice and moody lighting…and the party lingered in our room.
We were the final installation of six partnering designed spaces that guests made their way through in the first part of the night. Read all about how the event worked on the night here.
The lead-up to the show was a great deal of work…..
Painting the spaces, selecting furniture, textures and finishes. Developing new patterns and shapes; this season we developed three new jackets, two coats, two new cuts of trouser and knitwear, as well we brought back some classics!
Some behind-the-scenes shots of the lead-up to the event
In the BoConcept showroom discussing furniture and space
Measuring the spaces at Propeller Studios - asking the Directors to get back into paint clothes and change our wall colour, which they so kindly obliged!
Model fittings in store.
Behind the scenes at the shoot for the in-app range shots
