A few months ago we brought you the story of Charles Niehues, The Frenchman behind the brand Fat Boy Clothing. Up until that point Fat Boy Clothing had concentrated on building the brand slowly, on a solid foundation.
However, Fat Boy Clothing was on the brink of a huge leap forward: the introduction of the Tailor Collection. FBC now caters for the would-be outlaw from head to foot.
This is what the collection looks like.
I caught a glimpse of a few pieces when Charles and I met last summer’s Berlin Fashion week. From just this small peak I got really excited.
The thing that lends more legitimacy to the collection than anything else is the world is how Charles seats his garments. He goes to lengths that other burgeoning brands don’t to really show you the clothing in context.
The pieces draw heavily on the US Western aesthetic with the muted colours, textures and fits seamlessly belonging to the world that Charles creates.
A particular favourite of mine is the Western Vintage Wool Jacket.
It’s made from reclaimed US Army wool blankets and fully lined with heavy duty linen, which is all hand dyed and the stripes hand painted with water based ink.
Harking back to the Old West is the way in which Charles manufactures his clothing.
Back in the day, before the mass manufacture factories, brands like Levi’s would use many small “cottage industries.” A family, at home with a couple of sewing machines making the clothing. This meant that there could be a great deal of variations on the garments from maker to maker.
Naturally Charles has only chosen the very best of tailors and seamstresses to work with. But this way of creating his garments means that each is unique, even within a particular garment.
It is great to see a brand working in this way.
It not only supports the local craftspeople, but it gives the FBC customer something a little bit special.
Take some time to have a good look round the entire collection on the FBC website here.
