Travail en Famille

[oucho]

Sooo all the duffel bags are now online and available for sale, including the embroidered ones. Each bag has a printed pocket with a little quote or reference to the design, we have tried to keep these tasteful! Every bag also has a brass tag with the logo on and either suede/nubuck ends. Apart from that I think everything about them was covered in the previous blog post but if you have any questions just pay me 50c and I will be happy to advise. I'm not sure if anyone from care-tags has bought anything yet but sales are going quite well













The cloche bags have unfortunately been delayed further due to our factory being a bit hopeless, this really was out of our hands but fingers crossed we will have some available by this weekend. Here's a preview:


Also if you don't already follow us on Instagram: travailenfamille it's the only form of social media we really use and we upload lots of sneak peeks and new fabrics and whatnot

[oucho]

Hey dudes, so there is a lot going on at Travail en Famille at the moment and I thought you all might like to know a bit about it.

Firstly I apologise that the Cloche bag has not made it to production yet, we have had an absolutely shocking experience with a factory. We are doing our best to get it manufactured somewhere else now but it’s been a real saga, unfortunately it’s almost impossible to really know what working with a factory is going to be like until you’ve actually made an order, their behaviour has been really unacceptable. Hopefully we will be able to get the Cloche out sometime during the summer!

In more cheerful news the snowdrops are blooming, spring is just around the corner and so is our new collection. Titled Notre Jardin the collection is inspired by gardens. The name comes from Voltaire’s novella Candide which concludes: ‘Il faut cultiver notre jardin’ (we must grow our garden). It’s a reference to the philosophy that Voltaire presents: the idea that you should focus on living your own life in the way you deem correct regardless of the greater machinations of the world, to grow your garden. This pretty much summarizes what our brand is about and why we do what we do, it feels really perfect to me.

Grand philosophical posturing aside the collection is again about telling stories through fabric. Everything is again print-based; we don’t plan on being solely print-based forever but it’s our area of expertise and we are only going to work with plain fabric if we can make something really special, and that takes time.

I’m not going to go into too much detail yet about what stories we are telling this time, or exactly what new products we are adding, or our new fabrics, but the collection is right around the corner, I’m very excited about it (starting April, fingers crossed).

I’ll leave you with a couple of shots of some samples:

[oucho]

Also just a note about Moloch Clothing as I have never really explained it. It was a t-shirt brand I started at university as a design project, it never really had much of a direction or idea behind it and was more of an experiment and learning process. I learnt so much from it but since I've started working on Travail it's no longer really stimulating to print onto t-shirts and the ideas I started to focus on (computer communities) never really quite worked on t-shirts. I don't know what the future for it is, I will probably try to keep making things for friends and it's very close to my heart but is not, and was never really meant to be, a cohesive project.

[oucho]

I’m a bit late with this but Notre Jardin has launched! We have a LOT of new things which will be meandering their way onto the website over the rest of Spring and Summer, for now we have 4 new silk scarves.

Inevitably we took flintstone from a lot of gardens, people and a whole lot of stuff in between but the collection has been focussed into telling the stories of 5 gardens and their gardeners. If you head over to the website you can read about these gardens on the individual product pages, they’re short overviews for the sake of clarity, they are all worth further reading.

I like the idea that there are two layers to this collection, the surface layer which is the immediate impact of the prints: the joie de vie of the English meadow, the contemplative philosophy of the French garden. This is the immediate impact of the prints and sends a message in itself. The further layer, the specific gardeners and stories which inspired each print and formed the philosophy behind the collection speak about something that can’t be said too immediately about a person. The collection is almost overly romantic to the point of absurdity, I love getting carried away with the stories we find. Camus said that a man could be struck by the absurdity of life at any point, I like to think one of our prints might cause such a revelation.


How absurd

As well as the gardens that inspired them the prints also contain flowers that allude to their deeper philosophy, the White Arum which van Gogh would paint when he was sad, the Violet, namesake of one of Vita Sackville-West’s passionate lovers and many more. Not to mention some elements of our own sense of humour such as the curious cigarette card about bees on one of the Garden shirts. I think there’s a certain quiet confidence about wearing a print that very few people will ever truly understand the significance of. And yet the prints do have an immediate impact I think, and offer a glimpse or hint at the deeper philosophy.



As you can perhaps tell by my ramblings this collection has been a real exploration into what we are trying to do with Travail en Famille and what our clothes are going to be like. I see this collection almost as our Bible, a guideline to what we are about and everything we will do in the future, it perfectly summarizes what we are about. We started off with an idea that the literal act and metaphorical idea of growing your garden had some value and we found its legitimacy in the stories that we retell this collection. The collection is as much a philosophical manifesto as it is an exploration in print. In terms of print we have tried to capture the true feeling of a garden with a lot of green, grasses and animals, I think of these as garden or plant prints rather than pure floral.



The long crepe scarf is a new shape, it’s huge and double sided which makes it easier to wear than a silk square and very cool. There’s something wonderfully classical about the silk squares which works very well in this collection I think. You can check out the new scarves here: http://t-e-f.co.uk/collections/notre-jardin

Also follow us on instagram we post lots of previews and backstory to the collection: travailenfamille

[Bobbin.Threadbare]

Didn't realise your entire process was made in England! That's cool. How deep does it go? Is the fabric woven here?

[oucho]

[odradek]

Sorry if this is digging a bit deep, but where do most of your sales come from? The prices are a little rich for my blood (though I understand how they got that way) and I see almost no presence on the usual internet fashion haunts. You mentioned a while ago that you were placing next to good, reliable names to build a sort of association, and I was wondering how you managed to position that and how it's working out for you guys, also maybe the future plans.

[oucho]

[IsaiahSchafer]

When can we expect the Story x Travail collab to drop? Bobbin?

He likes silk, you like denim, he makes stuff in Britain, you make stuff in Britain, I could go on.

edit: vaeltaja raises a good point, silk isn't vegan. Okay, you can meet in the middle with polyester!

[Rosenrot]

I love the prints dearly but I'm not a fan of silk scarves as they're too light for me. I hope you'd consider printing on heavier fabrics one day.

[oucho]

[Rosenrot]

Will you guys produce the shirts as well? I can't find it on your site.

[oucho]

[DeafIdiotGod]

Would normally wait for oucho to update the thread but this just happened.

http://t-e-f.co.uk/collections/shirts

http://t-e-f.co.uk/collections/coats

Pretty stoked, gonna try to save up for one of the garden shirts.

[oucho]

Yeah sorry I have been insanely busy what with fashion week + taking shots of these products + buying e tautz trousers

SHIRTS AND COATS ARE HERE!!! We have some more to come, including womens' silk shirts, but this is a pretty nice selection.

To me the Garden shirt and the Artisan shirt are a really cool pairing because they both grew out of the same flintstone, but are very different. The Garden shirt is very honest, it's a shirt you can garden in, made from a thick, tough, stiff cotton drill. It's hard to digitally print onto thick fabrics, one of the great things about British manufacturing is that you get extraordinary companies like Insley & Nash, who we printed this with, who develop amazing stuff, like this digitally printable cotton drill.


When we first started I was a bit worried that digital printing would be a bit like slapping a design onto a shirt, no process, no skill, but that's far from the truth. I was reading on a paper printing company's website a few weeks ago that 'Digital is now a craft' and I completely agree. And these are guys printing paper, fabric is much more complicated. Every fabric prints differently and has it's own print character, there are some colours that we can't even print on certain fabrics because it just doesn't work. We have worked with around 7 different fabric printing companies in the UK now and it's incredible to see the different results they get on similar fabrics and the amazing things some of them have managed to do with fabrics that continue to bamboozle the others.



This cotton drill is a great example of a fabric with its own character and its own print character. We really had to wrestle with it to get good results, it certainly didn't cooperate. We had a lot of yucky samples, and a lot of stuff coming out blue, before we concocted the perfect mix of adjustment layers in Photoshop to tame this beast (more difficult then it sounds!). This isn't a fabric that we could've taken on a year ago so I'm really pleased with the results.

Talking of fabrics with print character the cotton/linen blend we used for the Meadow coat (and the cushions) is positively bursting with it. We first sampled this waaaay back when we were just beginning with Terres Inconnues. It wasn't right for anything we were doing back then but we tucked it away in our lovely fabric box and it was just perfect for the Notre Jardin collection. Linen always feels quite rustic and garden-y (this is a word I use a lot these days) so it felt right. The fabric has a fine, irregular slub which hampers the printing process and leaves imperfections. It looks amazing and leaves you with something that's so full of character. I don't know what else to say except that this fabric is so garden-y!



And now, the jewel of the collection in my eyes, the Artisan shirt. Of all the fabrics we have ever printed our silk crepe de chine has always been the most cooperative, prints just seem to take on a whole new existence on this fabric, sometimes I feel like I can't even take credit for this shit because my design didn't look that good when I sent it off to be printed.


The colours are always so rich and full. This alongside the fact that it feels amazing, is surprisingly windproof and warm and that you don't need to iron it (just leave it on a hanger for a day) has really made us fall in love with silk.

The Artisan shirt is a garden shirt of another kind, our collections have always had a philosophical side to them and this reflects that. It's also tongue in cheek, after all it has 3 silk pockets and metal buttons. The usual TEF romantic nonsense then.




The Garden shirt works great as an overshirt or jacket and fits a tiny bit large, it can be machine washed. The Meadow coat is a good spring/summer/autumn coat and fits a medium to a large, I'm a true medium and it's only just small enough to fit me, my uncle is an XL and it just about fits him. If you're worried about sizing but want to buy one we are happy to cover shipping if you want to return it. The Artisan shirt fits true to size and is dry clean only. We are also offering to cover shipping if you buy any shirt and want to swap it for a different size.

[Bobbin.Threadbare]

Love that you're working with Insley and Nash!

[oucho]

So glad you noticed the waistband pocket haha, have you clocked the wonky pocket yet?

teehee

Thanks! The 'leaves' are actually blades of fescue grass, very commonly found in English meadows. Grasses don't get enough love.


Also BIG news, this June and again in July there will be the opportunity to come meet Travail en Famille and see our clothes IN REAL LIFE.

First of all we will be exhibiting at Best of Britannia, a tradefair for for companies that make things in Britain.


It costs £5, I was told that includes some food and drink in the ticket price but I can't see that anywhere on the website so I'm not sure. I think it costs £8 on the day. There's a DJ set by Norman Jay and an independent cinema thing and a car boot sale. We will be offering a small discount to anyone who buys on the day as a compensation for the entry fee (it will more than cover that though).

Here's the site: http://bestofbritannia.com/events/london/london-2015/ and some more info: http://bestofbritannia.com/events/londo ... ctivities/

If you can't make that we are also holding an open studio weekend from the 10th-12th July. Basically we will be in the studio in Brighton and you can come have a coffee (we have an espresso machine ) and a chat. All of the clothes will be there for you to see of course (and who knows maybe some extras). You don't need to book a time in but of course we'd love to know if you will be coming! Susan may or may not be there not sure yet!

If you can't make it on any of these days but would still like to come visit then you can book a time to come see me at the studio, just message me here and we can work something out. The studio is just a 10 minute walk from the Brighton station at this address:
Unit G3
Ex-Cobbler's Thumb
New England Road
Brighton
BN1 4GG

COME VISIT US

We've also added a couple of new scarves, the Jardin Vert, inspired by Vita Sackville-West's white garden, which was actually pretty green.


And the Allium silk chiffon scarf. This is a new shape for us, 50cmx215cm, really easy to wear. This is one of my fave pieces from the collection.

[Bobbin.Threadbare]

I went to the BOB show last year (I think it was last year? Could have been the year before) and it was pretty good so I'd recommend it as a day out if nothing else. You guys will be a great success and stand out a mile I'm sure.

[oucho]

Thanks Bobbin! We actually have a few free tickets to give out if anyone here would like one

[meatjacket]

finally bought myself a honour scarf (tumeric)

excited because ive always been interested, but ive never had any kind of scarf

[Bobbin.Threadbare]

What's with the thread name change? Had a mare trying to find it

[sknss]

I think you guys just got married

[Syeknom]

Had my TEF bag for just over a fortnight now and love this thing. The flowers are beautiful and make me happy. The construction is very lux feeling - the nubuck ends of the duffel are mad soft and the metal feels really sturdy and pleasant. The pocket design is really excellent.

Fits just enough stuff for my weekend trips but I would personally struggle to pack for much longer. I'm not good at travelling light.

Glad I picked this over a super practical (BORING) porter/monocle bag.

[oucho]

HELLO CARE-TAGS
WE HAVE BEEN BUSY LITTLE BEES

First of all our website has had a little update, mostly to improve the aesthetic, usability and communicate everything a little better. We'd love to know what you guys think about it, especially the presentation of the stories behind the prints.

We've added a new scarf and a new bag in autumnal colours, the print features animals and plants from Vita Sackville-West's famous Sissinghurst garden!





And women's silk workwear shirts!


This print also features flowers from Vita Sackville-West's garden, she liked to garden in a velvet blazer so a 'workwear' gardening shirt in silk feels like a cool tribute to her.



This print is an addition to the Terres Inconnues collection. It's basically a remix of the Aviator print inspired by Amelia Earhart, the map is a 1950s flight route map and the flowers are Tuberose, which mean 'dangerous pleasures' in the language of flowers. Amelia Earhart wore silk shirts, so again, a fitting tribute!

The Aviator print silk shirt is also available for boys, I love the idea of a men's silk shirt celebrating a style icon like Amelia Earhart, who was quite a boyish dresser.


We have a few more bits to release for Autumn/Winter, including a brand new print series inspired by trees.

[Vaeltaja]

Man your Artisan shirt is just so beautiful. If only I could justify buying :(

I also really wanna see Paul Harnden dudes wearing your scarves or shirts. Your stuff's super cool and would fit in nicely.

[oucho]

Also we are in this season's issue of Port magazine, you can get it at WHSmith in England, pretty cool B)

[oucho]

A couple of weeks ago we made our way onto Hampstead Heath on a beautiful and windy day. There we frolicked in the meadows and made this lookbook, shot by the AMAZING photographer Iga Drobisz!











Find the rest of the lookbook here: http://t-e-f.co.uk/blogs/news/71731843- ... 6-lookbook

[wax]

I've been admiring the tef scarves and duffles from a distance for a while now, but I've finally decided to go ahead and get something. Planning on buying my mum a scarf for christmas, but trying to choose between them all is so hard.

Songlines?? Maria Sybilla? Aviator? oh god

I have to say though, the pros and cons list of the different kinds of silk on the previous page was super handy when it came to figuring out which material to choose. I am admittedly working off a low base, previously my knowledge of silk extended as far as "is expensive; is used for things"

[oucho]

Like any fabrics you really need to feel our silk to appreciate how lovely it is but I'm glad the info was helpful. I always want to offer as much choice as possible because I feel like it allows people to express themselves within our brand, looking forward to seeing what you'll pick!

[Vaeltaja]

You got any B&M stockists (USA but worldwide is cool for everyone else)? Always hoping for the vague chance that there's one where I live...