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Category: Meet Our Makers


The story behind the ‘Made By’ label

30th December 2020


The story behind the ‘Made By’ label | written by Katrina Cole, Design and Creative Director at Gushlow & Cole

It all started when I happened upon a skirt in our fancy dress cupboard. It was a beautiful, vintage, three quarter length, full circle skirt in bright red satin.

Having recently set up the Gushlow & Cole workshop in my Dad’s garage, (this must have been a good 20 years ago) I took the skirt into our workshop to make a quick alteration before I wore it to a fancy dress party. When I undid the zip, I noticed the unusual label inside. It said ‘made by Barry and the girls in the sample room’. Coming from my background, I thought this was just wonderful – finally someone had recognised the people behind the product!

I have always believed that machinists are the unsung heroes of the fashion industry. Emma and I had only just stopped working in the machine room at my Dad’s factory. So we knew first hand what it takes to become a highly skilled machinist, an ‘artisan’ able to work out samples and to precisely sew to the exacting standards of luxury fashion. Some women had been honing their skills for decades in our family factory. So, if Barry’s place was anything like ours, I knew the girls in the machine room would be like family to Barry and feel really proud to be mentioned in a label. After all, a good machinist always sews pride and love into their work!

The story behind the ‘Made By’ label blog, carol

From that moment on, and after a lot of thought about how we could somehow replicate this pride and show our customers how much love goes into making our products, we came up with the slogan ‘Made with Love’…who knew how much that one would catch on.

Our new slogan was sewn into every Gushlow & Cole piece and shipped to department stores worldwide. The only problem was, after a few years, it was catching on rather too much! In 2013 when I spotted it on the bottom of a stack of plastic boxes made in China, enough was enough! We needed to bring our labelling back to being personal. To go one step further, we had to refocus the artisan make back into our products. 

The story behind the ‘Made By’ label blog, stacy

We decided the only way we could be authentic about our heritage, show passion for English make and to celebrate the skilled craftsmen and craftswomen behind our products was to sew their name label alongside Gushlow & Cole. Hence the ‘Made By’ label was born.

The story behind the ‘Made By’ label

What better way could we let our customers know that we make very specialist items, which are not mass produced, by highly skilled craftspeople. Just like Barry, our makers are like family. We want people to know their story and to understand what skill goes into each and every one of our pieces.

(Some of our lovely girls at the G&C workshop at hilltop meadow in Kent, England).

We hope you enjoy finding out who made your Gushlow & Cole…and if you don’t know, just look in the label and meet our makers.

meet our makers | Carol | Gushlow and Cole

Meet Our Makers: Carol

09th May 2019


9th May 2019

Ever wondered who made your Gushlow and Cole coat, gilet or scarf? Then look no further than the ‘Made By’ label. We celebrate each of our craftspeople by sewing their name into each piece and today we caught up with Carol to share the history of her make….

On her journey

I began my career in British manufacture apprenticing at an upholstery shop in 1984, and then after six years on a bench as a qualified upholster I started to train in pattern cutting. It’s been an exciting road, but five years ago when I saw an ad in the local paper I decided to try my hand in fashion, now working at Gushlow and Cole HQ as one of their in house craftswomen.

A typical day

A typical day for me at the Gushlow and Cole workshop would be matching shearlings as well as pattern cutting mittens, hats and scarves. I also match shearlings for larger garments such as the Aviator Jacket – I really enjoyed helping making this style.

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On working with shearling

From a manufacturing point of view I really like working with shearling. Being a natural material not one shearling is ever the same, and with so many different shearling types and textures it’s a fantastically versatile material to work with. The finished products always look great too.

On British manufacturing

British manufacturing has long been known for it’s high standards and unique style but has been hit by the demands of fast fashion. In recent years I would like to think that the fashion industry is moving away from mass produced, cheap clothing like it was back in the 1980’s. There has been a recent shift for the need to buy good quality items that look good and last well – which is only a good thing.

 


“The first piece I ever made at Gushlow and Cole was one of their iconic Shawl Scarves, and I still make them today!”


 

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On her proudest achievements

I really enjoy seeing a well matched out and beautifully finished product and thinking to myself, ‘I helped make that’.

On the inspiration behind her career

From a young age I have always been interested in art and crafts. Being good with my hands rather than academic, I looked for a job where I could make things which lead me to my first job in upholstery. From there I soon realised, I was also quite good on a sewing machine…

 


” I really enjoy seeing a well matched out and beautiful finished product and thinking to myself, I helped make that”