A State of Nature
A POLISH-BRITISH ARTISAN DUO APPLYING THE SAVILLE ROW STANDARD TO UNISEX WORKWEAR
Barbara and Nick both wearing Aniela shirt and Atlas trousers
In the midst of turbulent 2020, Barbara Fidler and Nick Eisa, a Polish-British designer-maker couple decided to start their brand “A State of Nature”. Their slow fashion, made to order initiative, relying on local sourcing and community of makers, allowed them to grow despite the chaos of the pandemic. They found a unique niche - unisex workwear but made with the same level of craft excellence normally applied to formal shirts and suiting from the Saville row.
“When you think about someone making you a garment you might typically think of something very high end, or inaccessible. We want to make this process accessible,” explains Barbara. Their idea of workwear is not a uniformed, dull piece. Their elegant minimalistic design leaves a lot of room for comfort and the personal style of the wearer. Moreover, unisex pieces can be shared with a friend or partner. In this way, the brand invites the consumer to the idea of sharing a wardrobe and eventually owning fewer clothes but of better quality. In the beginning, they tested the waters releasing just one staple piece - an Oxford shirt “Aniela”. It launched at ideal timing. Lockdown ushered people into all sorts of fun but previously unconsidered activities, from baking bread to growing one’s vegetables in a back garden. Aniela’s comfortable, easy to wear design was made for all of those tasks. It quickly became a great success for the brand. Piquing an interest of the Japanese market it was soon selling to 12 stores there.
Just over a year from launch, they added trousers, outerwear and leather goods to their offering. Most recently, they developed a dog harness, whose smart design allows it to grow with your furry friend. Japan is currently where most of their faithful clients and stockists are, which further confirms the highest level of craft they offer.
The Japanese vibe of their clothing is not a result of research into Japanese culture or fashion. They grasp a practical, utilitarian design philosophy that naturally results in a very genuine, Japanese feel. “We design clothes relevant in our household. It is a practical, everyday look keeping the silhouettes simple and elegant. We also love to look at what people enjoy wearing and take inspiration from every day.” Working on their pieces, Barbara and Nick studied archival images, looked at Polish and British workwear references. “In terms of aesthetics we looked a lot into the PRL, we looked at archives, old images (…) I feel like there is a lot in common between Polish, Soviet and English countryside styles. (…) High waisted trousers, a pair of braces, bigger shirts, this kind of practical look and very durable construction.” says Barbara. Craft has been present in their families for generations. Barbara’s great-grandfather was a tailor in a polish textiles hub of Łódź. Nick’s grandmother worked at the Aquascutum factory while his grandfather was a carpenter. Barbara recalls being very crafty since early childhood making toys and repairing her clothes. “I grew up in a Zakopane-style wooden house, very folky, we had lots of wood, sculptures in there. My parents were both artists.”
Barbara’s great-grandfather (gentleman in the middle sitting by the sewing machine) in Łódź, Poland
Through quite a similar upbringing, Barbara and Nick share a coherent creative vision and agree on the same ethical principles which form the DNA of their brand. Moreover, they both have a wealth of industry experience previously working for big fashion houses. It was their great asset when starting their own business. Upon graduation from a BA Footwear Design at UAL’s Cordwainer’s Barbara secured a design position at Jimmy Choo. Later forayed into shirt making at Saville Row to eventually design for a classic heritage British brand Dunhill. Nick started his career as a luxury leather-goods designer for brands such as Valextra, Victoria Beckham, Asprey, Hillier Bartley and Hermes. He later went on to be a bespoke shoemaker at George Cleverley & Co. in Mayfair.
Asked about the challenge of switching from a role of a designer dealing solely with the creative tasks to running a business in all its overwhelming responsibility, Barbara says “I’ve always been quite proactive, curious about other departments of the business, like product development, merchandising, curious how others do their job? How do we manage to promote the designs? I always found all those other parts of the business other than design, very fascinating! (…) I find the challenge of running a business, really helpful when it comes to being a good designer and maker. Cause then I know that I design the things relevant to what the client really needs instead of just designing whatever I like. Now the process makes so much more sense.”
Barbara wearing Aniela shirt in nettle fabric
“Through the experience of working for big corporations, we realised that the products are so removed from the connection with people, clients are not able to understand the supply chain, how the products are made, what makes particular products luxurious, what makes them special? In A State of Nature we wanted to introduce the idea of sharing with people how those products have been made, who made it, what’s the story behind materials, production..
(…) we wanted to be transparent and build a community within a brand.”
A State of Nature
The brand’s Instagram is not only their platform to promote a product. It plays a helpful part during design development. They often share some work-in-progress prototypes and ask their following for suggestions. “People do engage and give us personal feedback, which is so helpful. They are very involved in the process. (…)We like to introduce our clients to those hidden corners of the business, which would be hidden for most brands but not for us.” explains Nick. “We don’t outsource less glamorous jobs,” it says on their website. All of the designs are born, prototyped, fitted, sewn and packed in a set of workshops in Hackney. The making process for a made-to-order item takes about two weeks. All garments come in a variety of quality fabrics. They like to juxtapose the workwear styles with more luxurious materials such as crisp poplins or shimmering seersuckers. Such combinations elevate the simple design making it versatile for both smart and casual activities. All of their fabrics are sourced from the best mills and family-run businesses in the UK, Italy and Portugal.
Barbara and Nick experiment with new fibres and compositions. One of them is nettle, which the brand strongly advocates for as an alternative to widely used cotton. It is a naturally renewable resource growing fast and requiring barely any pesticides in a process of manufacturing.
Fabric made from the stinging plant is a perfect heat insulator with a similar texture to linen but with much greater durability. The brand currently is utilising nettle in their shirting and accessories. However, they are in a process of developing their very own fabric from this exciting new fibres.
At A State of Nature, they put emphasis not only on sustainable manufacturing but they try to ensure that all their products live a long life. “We always use the main fabric for every part of the garment, including non-visible areas like the pocket bags. This means the pockets will be as durable as the rest of the garment.”
Their leather goods, in turn, give a second life to discarded leathers from shoe factories. The timeless simplicity of all styles makes them trend defying and appropriate for any weather and season. Fabrics are carefully selected to be breathable when it’s hot and to keep warmth in during colder days. Turning a garment inside out shows the level of pattern cutting applied to every detail. “We toile a lot and our pattern cutting process involves several stages. We are usually over-designing in the beginning and simplifying along the way. It kind of formed the aesthetic of our brand, the pairing-down process and the simplicity of our garments (…)We wear test all our products to ensure the highest comfort.” explains Nick.
All details are limited to the minimum, pockets are strategically positioned and shaped to meet the most practical needs of the wearer. “Tycho” shirt is a good example, worn by Nick during our interview. He explains “We designed this style during the winter period. Tycho has diagonal access pockets to be easily accessible when wearing a jacket. Its large horn buttons, in turn, are for an easy fastening while wearing gloves.”
Despite such a short time running, A State of Nature has grown incredibly fast expanding their offering and growing international customer community. They currently juggle several projects to launch in the near future such as introducing a zero-waste pattern cutting or a fully recycled clothing line. Meanwhile, they are looking into opening a side production line with a polish factory from Łódź. “Poland is surely a place to look in terms of craft, we are really using this resource,” says Barbara. Having visited the country multiple times, Nick enjoys the atmosphere present in Polish craft enterprises. „I think just from visiting Poland, there is such a nice attitude towards the craft. Everyone seems very kind in all of those industries. In England is it a little bit different, There is a bit of a snooty poshness to all of those big shoemakers, where they keep it a little bit exclusive, but In Poland, it was just really welcoming! Wherever we went, people just wanted to chat about craft, about how they make things. It was quite refreshing.” Their aspiration is to evolve into a lifestyle brand consequently adding homeware and other categories.They are on the lookout for a perfect east London spot to open a brick and mortar store one day too. “We would like this place to be a spot for a meet up with a cafe within a shop and a tailoring spot, where people can come in and chat to us about the craft. (…) It could have books where they can learn how to start hand stitching. And alongside all this, they could buy our products in there.” explains Barbara.
Don’t hesitate to reach out to Barbara and Nick if you’d like to get to know more about their craft and products. You might as well want to schedule a workshop visit to try on their beautiful garments and feel on yourself the fantastic quality they offer. Their newly launched wallet service might also lure you to their leather workshop to design such a fine, handcrafted leather piece for yourself.
To see their full range of products (or to check out their flavorous hummus recipe in a journal section) head to their website here and follow their Instagram for updates.
All images courtesy of A State of Nature