I really enjoy writing. It’s something I’ve done in one form or another since my late teens when I decided I wanted to spend the next ten years in a band aiming for world domination. Most creative’s stories start this way with the ending following suit to mine. And yes, I did call just call myself a ‘creative.’
As an over-thinker and over-sharer, I’ve been deliberating around how much I share under the guise of Mallin & Son. Whether it’s relevant or even interesting, so my first ask is for you to simply let me know. I only recently found a label for my ramblings that I actually like, oddly given by Ed from Hebtroco. A ‘Storyteller’ is a trait we apparently both share.
Whilst we’re on with labelling things, I’d love to (as would marketing speak) give you a deep, profound story behind the bags I started producing last year. The ethics are clear, they also but they’re not the driver. The act of simply being creative is what drives me to make them, the fact that I also have the tools to use offcuts and deadstock just makes that creativity feel a hell of a lot better.
To be clear though, I do think that fast fashion is simply awful. I think that some brands who do the same thing behind the guise of high fashion is simply awful too. I’m not here to preach about that though as I know there’s many drivers behind spending habits from economics through to simple choice. Nor am I here to tell you how to spend your money or simply ‘not’ to spend your money. As I society I do feel like we’ve become brainwashed into over-consumption though, even if a lot of what we do buy is secondhand. I’ve a whole other piece to share on that if you decide to accept my writing route down the avenue of honesty over branding.
I’ve come to see the value that can be held within a garment by individuals and that’s also likely one of the reasons that you’re here reading this. Be it jackets passed down through family or a jacket that keeps you warm at work or a jacket that simply cost you a lot of money so you want it to last, they all have meaning. Over-consumption disregards that and puts you on the conveyor belt towards ‘more’ often without us even realising.
So what has this got to do with making bags?
I want to create something that repeats that feeling. Something uniquely individual that can never be identically replicated. I want to create a story for you to start conversations around, owning that one bag and that it’s made from pieces of fabric from a number of jackets that had they’re own tales to tell. It’s a bag made by hand by someone doing their best, learning as they go along who never touched a sewing machine until 3 years ago.
Stretching the word ‘tenuous’ as far as I can, I want to reproof your jackets and make your bags so that you can fill them with a picnic, go for a long walk outdoors and stay dry when it rains. This is genuinely good for you and what’s good for you is good for society and what’s good for society is good for all of us. Ever go away for the day or weekend somewhere in the countryside and come home saying ‘everyone said hello on the street or in the pub’? That’s because they spend most of their lives in the fresh air and more than likely own a waxed jacket….
Our Reworked Bags will be going live on www.mallinandson.com as soon as they’re made. Subscribe to our Substack and newsletter to hear about it first.