‘It’s not fast fashion’: the cult brand telling customers to wear out its clothes

Cathal McAteer, the founder of cult brand Folk, is trying on pieces from his new line, It’s All Good Folk, at his central London shop and HQ. He’s excited about the new collection. The first pieces went into John Lewis’s White City store that morning and he is visibly chuffed. He’s already wearing the trouser samples, which will go on sale in November, and it looks like he’ll be living in them for a while. He’s his own best customer. “I personally like a dishevelled, worn garment,” he says. “I like that patina things take on when they look well-worn.”

The tagline for the collection made exclusively for sale in John Lewis and Folk, is “Wear it out”. “It’s not fast fashion,” he says. “It’s important that people wear the garments out.” Folk already repairs clothes that are returned if they have been damaged. “If they can be repaired or upcycled, then the team will make sure that happens,” he says. The same will be true for It’s All Good Folk. “If something needs a minor repair we will replace the garment, if need be, then we can repair it and resell it, or we can make a charitable donation so it can be used and worn again.”

Making clothes last longer is important, but it is only part of the story. Fashion has become an industry that even the people who work in it feel increasingly uneasy about. Designers and supply-chain managers like those in McAteer’s team are all too aware of news about microplastic-contaminated rain in remote parts of the world, about fashion brands burning clothes they can’t sell, and the unfathomable amounts of waste and pollution created by the production of fashion and textiles.

McAteer’s team are keen to drive change within the business. When John Lewis approached Folk to collaborate on a menswear line, it made sense to do things a little differently and rethink the way the collection is sourced and made. He employed the services of sustainability consultant Dan Holmes. “We have been studying how we can make our supply chain, suppliers and ourselves do things better,” said McAteer. The result has motivated the team and re-energised the whole business.

A lot of it made both common and business sense, like making sure factories were close to fabric suppliers so they were no longer shipping a material from, say, Japan to Poland, to cut down on air miles. “It’s always a balance,” says Holmes. “Is a recycled fibre better than organic? Is organic better than BCI – which is Better Cotton Initiative? It’s all about trade-offs. Is the focus on ocean plastic or climate change?” These are the questions all brands – big or small – should be asking. But there are no easy answers or quick fixes. “There are definitely people doing it much better,” says McAteer. This is a starting point. The whole team is really excited about the fabrics we’ve chosen to use, from BCI cottons to the organic cottons, recycled nylons, polyesters. It is definitely positive and we are pretty happy.”

Rethinking materials and sourcing is all very well, but it still doesn’t address the issue that we are fundamentally making too many clothes. That’s why McAteer is so determined to communicate the “wear it out” message to ensure that nothing ends up being worn a few times before ending up in landfill.

He shows me the video he made to promote the new collection and its underlying message. It was filmed in Glasgow, inspired by the early days of Folk, when he and a couple of friends would go on a road trip and take pictures. It perfectly encapsulates the Folk spirit – utilitarian clothes to have a good time in. It’s the details that are all important: the seams designed to flatter the lines of the body, the subtle logo printed on the side of a jacket, the fit that allows you to move.

Cathal McAteer grew up in Cumbernauld, outside Glasgow, in the 1980s, with little interest in school and an obsession with clothes and design. He got himself a milk round at 12 so that he could save up money to buy cool stuff he was into, and, by the time he was 16, he was working in Glasgow’s cult designer boutique, Ichi Ni San.

In 1990, Glasgow was the City of Culture (the Independent dubbed it “City of Couture”) and was enjoying its moment in the style spotlight with a thriving music and fashion scene. McAteer was at its epicentre, modelling for the store and soon travelling to the shows in London and Paris, in search of new collections to sell. Already, he was dreaming of his own shop and label.

He moved to London in the late 1990s and, after a few years working for brands including Nicole Farhi, he was convinced there was a niche for a new label for people like him and his friends. In 2001, Folk was born. The name was suggested by a friend – the perfect unassuming tag for a quietly cool Modern British brand that was to gain a following of people in the know, tuned into the worlds of music, art and design, as well as the finer details of utility tailoring.

Eighteen years on, Folk has grown a loyal and dedicated following. Womenswear was introduced in 2012 along with accessories, shoes and the odd bit of furniture and a selection of other products that have caught McAteer’s eye and share his values. There are now five stores and regular collaborations with artists, designers and musicians.

The collaboration with John Lewis meant McAteer had to make sure his manufacturers were signed up to the partnership’s Responsible Sourcing Code of Practice that sets out expectations on pay, working hours, child labour, worker rights and the right to freedom of association as well as responsible sourcing of materials, with factories being audited by third-party companies. It meant asking some of his suppliers who weren’t already on the list to sign up, which he says is due diligence and good for them, too.

While you could argue that if Folk is serious about reducing its impact, it wouldn’t be expanding with a new collection in 12 John Lewis stores, but fashion is a business and McAteer wants to grow in a measured way. The irony is, the brand now has a greater access to more sustainably sourced materials which were previously too expensive for him to buy in smaller quantities.

McAteer doesn’t believe people should pay more just because a product is made in a more sustainable way. That, surely, should be standard. Through economies of scale, It’s All Good Folk is cheaper than the main Folk line. A print shirt is £75, while a T-shirt made from Global Organic Textile Standards (GOTS)-certified organic cotton is £40.

As he zips up his minimalist twist on a classic MA1 jacket, which is made of recycled polyester, he talks me through the collection. All the pieces are based on archive favourites, redesigned for today – which means not just the fabrications but the styling, too. There’s a shirt that was originally made in cotton but has been reimagined in a new low impact viscose called EcoVera. The original version felt stiffer, this one has a lovely drapey feel to it.

“It’s all Good Folk is designed with the Folk ethos at heart – that’s unrestrictive clothes designed beautifully with every detail marked off,” says McAteer. “And then we apply this new ethos in that we make these garments in the best possible way, with a trusted manufacturer, using fabrics that are locally sourced next to the manufacturer in great factories. And we will make those garments as clean as possible. We will be scrutinised. But let’s do the best we can… we’re asking all the questions.”

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