Garment Care

A garment made well will outlast the season it was bought in — provided it is looked after. Most of what shortens a piece's life is not wear. It is over-cleaning, careless drying and the wrong hanger.

Below is how we recommend caring for the materials we work with. Guidance specific to your piece is included with your order and on its product page.

Four Principles

Clean less than you think. Every cleaning cycle removes a little of a fibre's natural oils and structure. Most garments need air, not water. Hang a piece somewhere ventilated for a few hours after wearing and it will recover on its own.

Steam rather than iron. A steamer relaxes fibres without pressing them flat. An iron, particularly on wool and silk, crushes the surface and leaves a shine that cannot be undone. We recommend a steamer for everything we make.

Treat a mark immediately. A fresh mark is a small problem. The same mark in a week is a professional one.

Hang correctly. Wide, shaped wooden hangers for coats and jackets — a wire hanger will deform a shoulder within a season. Trousers folded over the bar or clipped at the waistband.

Wool & Cashmere

Wool is naturally resilient and resists odour and dirt on its own. It rarely needs cleaning — usually once at the end of a season, and only then if it is actually soiled.

Between wearings. Hang the piece in open air for a few hours. A soft garment brush, worked downward with the nap, lifts dust and restores the surface. Brushing after each wear does more for a coat than any cleaning.

Cleaning. Structured outerwear — coats, jackets, trenches — should be cleaned professionally. We ask that you choose a specialist who works with wet cleaning or solvent-free methods rather than traditional perchloroethylene. Gentler processes are better for the fibre, for the finish of the garment and for the person handling it.

Pilling. Small pills where fabric rubs — under the arm, at the sides — are normal in natural fibre and not a fault. Remove them with a cashmere comb or a fabric shaver, moving in one direction with light pressure. Never pull them off by hand; that takes the fibre with them.

Damp. If a piece is caught in rain, shake it out and let it dry naturally at room temperature, away from radiators and direct sun. Heat sets wool permanently out of shape.

Silk

Silk is a protein fibre. It dislikes heat, alkaline detergent and friction — and responds well to being handled gently and quickly.

Washing by hand. Cold water, no warmer than 30°C. A pH-neutral detergent made for silk or wool; ordinary detergent and anything containing bleach or enzymes will dull the surface. Move the piece through the water rather than rubbing it, and give it no more than a few minutes.

Rinsing and drying. Rinse in cold water. Never wring — press the water out between your palms, then roll the piece in a towel to draw off the rest. Dry flat, or on a padded hanger, away from sunlight. Direct sun fades silk faster than wear does.

Creases. Steam from a distance, or hang the piece in a bathroom while you shower. If you must iron, use the lowest setting, work on the reverse side and place a cloth between the iron and the fabric.

Note. Deodorant, perfume and alcohol mark silk permanently. Let both dry fully before dressing.

Cotton

Cotton is the most forgiving of our materials, though structured cotton — gabardine, twill, anything tailored — behaves more like outerwear than like a shirt.

Unstructured pieces. Hand wash in cold water with a mild detergent, or machine wash on a delicate cycle at 30°C. Wash dark colours separately for the first few times.

Structured pieces. Trenches and tailored cotton hold their shape through interfacing and construction that water disturbs. Clean these professionally.

Drying. Air dry. Tumble drying shrinks cotton and hardens the hand of the cloth. Reshape while damp and the piece will need almost no steaming.

Marks & Stains

Blot, never rub. Rubbing pushes a mark into the weave and abrades the surface around it.

Lift as much as you can with a clean, dry cloth, working from the outside of the mark inward. For water-based marks, a barely damp cloth and patience. For grease on wool, leave it and go to a specialist — home remedies set it.

Test anything you intend to apply on a hidden seam allowance first.

Storage

Clean before storing. This matters more than anything else here. Moths are drawn not to wool itself but to what is left on it — perspiration, skin, food traces. A garment put away soiled is the one that comes out damaged.

Use a breathable garment bag. Cotton or another natural fabric. Plastic covers trap moisture and cause yellowing and mildew; the bag a dry cleaner returns a piece in is for transport, not for storage.

Choose the right place. Dry, dark, cool and ventilated. Avoid attics, basements and anywhere against an outside wall.

Give pieces room. A crowded rail creases garments and holds humidity against them.

Deter moths naturally. Cedar blocks or lavender sachets, refreshed each season — cedar oil dissipates within months and stops working. Do not let either touch the fabric directly. Airing and shaking out stored pieces once or twice over the season disturbs any cycle before it establishes.

Repairs

If something is wrong with a piece because of how it was made — a seam that has given way, a fault in construction — write to us. We take responsibility for it.

If a piece has been damaged in wear, we cannot carry out the repair or cover its cost, but we will gladly tell your tailor how the garment is built and how it should be restored. A well-made piece is almost always worth repairing.

If a button is lost, write to us and we will send replacements.