Our Story
Many fashion companies begin with a grand vision, a dream, a revelation of
inspiration; our start was simpler. We just wanted to make the perfect sweater.
Having worked for the big global ‘luxury’ brands, we wanted to make something
more personal, not made as cheaply as possible or mass produced, just a perfect,
sumptuously yarned, chunky, warm and closely fitted sweater. The sort you
could wear at New York Fashion Week or up a mountain in the Lake District. It
wasn’t as easy as you’d think. We trialled and tested yarns and manufacturers,
and after many mistakes and false starts we eventually mastered it. We called it
Oskar, made from Merino and knitted in the UK.
We believe it is this, our first sweater, that encapsulates the ideals of what Archie
Foal stands for, LUSTROUS UTILITY, the transformative power of simple, casual,
well made clothing, in the finest yarns and fabrics: wearable, gorgeous, useful.
In the early days, my friend Tessa (now friend and business partner) joined to
help develop a complete collection (and business). Tessa has an edgy aesthetic,
likes paired down, clean lines, studied fashion design at Central St Martin’s,
worked in Paris and brought to Archie Foal actual proper skills, expertise in design,
and pattern cutting. Now we have a full collection of knitwear, outerwear, jackets,
shirts, dresses, a range of accessories, mostly made in Britain, all manufactured
to exacting standards, in small runs, often hand -made or finished, which allows
variants so each garment is as unique as a fingerprint.
We spent so much developing the clothing, an Archie Foal shop was out of the
question (we hadn’t quite thought that bit through), as our internet business took
time to grow, we started with a weekly market stall on Northcote Rd in
Wandsworth. It went well, we soon built up a bit of a following, we often sell in
the pouring rain, sometimes in the driving sno they are a dedicated bunch, the
snow,
Archie Foal converts. We still have the stall (it’s great for feedback) and now
four years later you can buy our clothing from www.archiefoal.com, Harrods,
Selfridges, pop up shops and at upscale fairs from, Gloucestershire to Yorkshire,
Brick Lane to Belgravia.