Once a manufacturing powerhouse, Britain led the world in textiles and clothing through the 19th and early 20th centuries. Today, less than 3% of clothing sold in the UK is still made here. So when a label says "Made in Britain," what does that actually mean anymore?

What happened to UK manufacturing

Global supply chains shifted production overseas from the late 20th century onward, chasing lower labour costs. Entire regions built around textile manufacturing, Lancashire's mills, the East End's garment trade, shrank dramatically. What's left is a smaller, more specialised sector: skilled, small-batch production, often serving brands that specifically want to manufacture domestically rather than brands that ended up there by default.

Why the remaining 3% actually matters

Small-scale UK manufacturing tends to come with things that get lost at scale: fair wages that are actually verifiable, working conditions you can walk into and check rather than take on faith, and a level of quality control that comes from a designer being a short drive from the factory floor rather than an ocean away from it.

What this looks like for us

Every piece we make is produced in London's garment district, on a fair living wage, with regular hours and a facility our founder visits weekly to check quality in person. It's slower and more expensive than offshore production. It's also the only way we know of to actually verify the claims most "ethically made" labels just assert.

What to actually check before you believe a label

"Made in Britain" on its own tells you where the final stitching happened, not who was paid what, or under which conditions. Worth asking: does the brand know the name of their factory owner? Have they been there? Would they let you visit? If a label can't answer those questions, the "Made in Britain" claim is doing more marketing work than it is honesty.

Next time you see that label, what would you actually want to know behind it?