Lords Of Harlech

In a world where fast fashion feels like it is taking over its an amazing feeling when you finally see a new quality, fashion brand launching and enjoying success. Some times it feels that the sweatshop, fast fashion retailers are taking over and you end up seeing almost the same styles everywhere you go, and surprise surprise they all have the same quality... bad. So, when you come across a brand which has recently launched showcasing clothes that doesn't just provide quality, but truly cares about what is in their upcoming collections is truly an amazing feeling and this is exactly what Lords Of Harlech are in a nutshell.

Lords Of Harlech

Right from the start, the team behind the rapidly growing brand decided to build every component of the product, not wanting to be reliant on existing textiles and processes. They'd start each season with fibre and yarn to create the fabrics, then they move onto the decoration of fabrics, and finally construction the garment together. The brand told me, 'We take creativity to new heights as we create our own fabrics. If it doesn't exist, we create it. We do not look to other brands for direction... we create our own trends and make our own predictions of what we feel would be great for the season'. They then went on to say, 'We look at overarching big world events and what is happening globally. We are confident that what we offer each season speaks to that moment in time. Our brand is known for our love of colour and vibrant patterns. It is our goal to be the authority on fashion-right colours for the season'. Talking about new collection and what inspires them, how they come up with new ideas, it was clear to see its not just about making clothes to sell, it felt like they were trying to create a lot more ,'Print, like colour, creates an emotional reaction. We start each season with a theme that both inspires us to create and will be evident to the person wearing the garment'. This is what separates brands, its not something they have to advertise because there collections show the time and effort that has gone in to making each and everyone of their designs, and its truly the best type of advertisement you can invest in... your product. This goes to show with the brand stocking collections of Shirts, t-Shirts, jumpers, trousers, shorts, shoes and even swimwear, meaning that when it comes to creating collections there is so much to consider. When you see a brand like this it can sometimes we worrying, because you dont want the quality to be lost in a particular area or you dont want pieces looking almost the same, but after seeing the collections Lord of Harlech seem to have this under control. Its an exciting brand, offering quality and comfortable menswear.

The founder

The Brand was launched in 2016 by a English trained fashion designer, Paul Mainwaring and within just 4 years he's found success in the US, Asia and now plans to come back the UK whilst bringing his brand to Europe. Paul spent 20 years working in the textile industry, having worked for many of the finest fashion retailers in the world, he's spent the last 20 years on his passion, helping to build brands all over the US, but now is his time.

Paul launched the brand 4 years ago and is being sold in over 14 countries worldwide. 'Lords of Harlech' got its name from the summer memories he had visiting Wales as a child. Mainwaring felt an appreciation for the beautiful country, giving him the inspiration for the name of his brand.

SS20 Collection

There are two types of brands, those that just keep rolling out new pieces of clothing throughout the whole year with no sole inspiration to them, these tend to be quite common and the styles are quite similar to other brands that do the same. The second type of brand is the ones that release collections SS & AW. Collections may over lap or they might be completely different one things that is certain with brands that do this is that you can tell what collection a piece is from because they tend to have similar colours and designs.

The Lords Of Harlech SS20 was named 'Land of the rising sun', for those that know their cultural references will know this would be influenced by Japan. The brand were influenced by the Asian country because of the 2020 Olympics which were set to be held in Tokyo, Japan. (This has now been moved to 2021 due to the global pandemic that is Covid-19). The brand where hoping to capture the cities beauty, its art, its culture, ceremonies and of course its people. A country like Japan is almost a tale of two worlds, you have its traditions its history date back century but then you have this modern Utopia and in their SS20 Collection the brand have captured both tales. The pieces in this collection showcase the beauty and elegance of the country whilst proving to be stylish.

AW20 Collection

Once the SS collections are finalised, designers turn their focus to the next collection which usually is the AW collection. The AW20 collection from Lords Of Harlech is called 'Bloomsbury', When speaking to the brand they told me, 'it's a reflection of the turn of the century leading art movement that refreshed both art and literature. This sensibility has been applied to our unique textiles, prints, colours and garments for the collection this season'. Again a very cultural approach to they inspiration, which if its any like the SS20 collection, the inspiration is going to shine through in the designs.

Final Thought

I started this feature writing about how 'Fast fashion' is taking over the the fashion world so its great when you see a brand like this doing well and having a passion for the business. The future is bright for Lords of Harlech with their collections arriving in UK stores this year. (Empire Menswear, 42 High Street

Congleton, Cheshire SW12 1BD, where their clothing will launch mid-May). In just 4 years they've grown this brand into a world-wide brand, which goes to show that people still want quality, people still want their clothes to be made with passion and quality fabrics, it also show that there are still many new designs out their to be created, it about finding that inspiration. Founder Paul is a great example of don't rush things. True quality takes time, sometimes 20 years but once it arrives it'll mean so much more for the brand and for the customers.

You can get yourself kitted out in Lord Of Harlech's SS20 collection over at https://lordsofharlech.com/