I'm privileged to be contacted regularly by new and budding menswear businesses. Deciding which to feature is a hard task, as I haven't the time nor space to manage all. My attention is caught by British manufacture and good design and, needless to say, if they market to men of all ages and don't just use models in their twenties, they have a further advantage.
Mountain White ticks all these boxes. Manufacturing in the UK, they use tweed, canvas, Ventile and other robust fabrics to make garments which are designed principally for outdoor use. While original in appearance, they are all wearable, well-made and good-looking.
I've been able to examine and wear some of the clothes, a selection of which is pictured below.
Mountain White ticks all these boxes. Manufacturing in the UK, they use tweed, canvas, Ventile and other robust fabrics to make garments which are designed principally for outdoor use. While original in appearance, they are all wearable, well-made and good-looking.
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| Mountain White |
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| Harris Tweed Outershirt |
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| Two Tone Outershirt |
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| Shirt Number 1 Big Button |
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| Harris Tweed Two Button Jacket |
Robert Stanwyck, founder of Mountain White, told me, "I wanted to draw from the hardwearing and functional side of traditional 'outdoor clothing' and apply it to classic fashion forward styles. I spent a lot of time working on the bold nature of the detail/styling on the plackets, cuffs, etc, to give a chunky and weighty feeling. Something that I want to be a signature and really representative of all Mountain White garments".
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| Trying on the Classic Tweed and Two Tone outershirts for Instagram |
He's certainly achieved his aim. Another interesting aspect of Mountain White is the way in which the clothes will be sold. You select what you want to buy, pay a deposit and as soon as a minimum number of buyers has been reached he garment will be manufactured and shipped. This may not be for the impatient consumer requiring instant gratification, but for the mature and discerning, with an eye on sustainable methods of fashion consumption, it's got everything. It helps manufacturers to plan production and keep prices (which would be driven up if garments have to be made in small quantities) at a reasonable level.
Mountain White isn't quite ready to sell their products, but you can sign for further information here. I will be bringing you more about them in future. Please let me know what you think, either now or when you've had a chance to try their products.
So, I tried to buy a Ventile jacket from these people but have just got an email from them with a notification of a refund so I guess they didn't meet their sales target. I went into it understanding that that was a part of the deal so no great trauma, but I'm sad not to be getting the jacket.
ReplyDeleteSome observations on the process though:
- the splash pricing on the front page of their website is misleading. Although everything is clear when you read thoroughly, the price at the front is only half the total. No business that I know can get away with this for long.
- the website is updated infrequently, so the "only x left" description for each product isn't live, or anything like it. It makes the website feel unloved. It isn't reassuring for potential customers.
- I got nothing from the company with my refund notification. No "sorry it didn't work out", no "thanks for trying - please come back again". I've shown I'm willing to try the business model and they aren't doing anything to keep me onboard.
- New products have been launched since they got my email address. I've received nothing from them. No publicity, no buzz. No sale.
The clothes look good, but they've a way to go to make a business.
Hi coljay - I've passed your comment on. I appreciate your mentioning your concerns here.
ReplyDeleteGF
Hi coljay
ReplyDeleteI am really sorry to hear your comments about our service.
The message below was included on the refund notes sent to you today, which you don't appear to have seen. I will look into what could have happened here and how we can make changes to fix this in the future.
"Dear Colin, the campaign for the Peake Jacket has been unsuccessful and we are really very sorry to say we will not be proceeding with the production. Please accept our sincerest apologies and a full refund. We will launch the Peake Jacket again and will notify you as soon as we do. While we build our new way of doing things, we hope you understand and accept our sincerest apologies. Kindest Regards Robert"
I can assure you we update our website every single day. The product remaining number is live, as in it only changes with a new purchase. Updated hourly.
I am sorry to hear you think our pricing is misleading, again I will review how this displayed on the front page to see if we can make any immediate changes to our system clearer at a glance.
We launch product on an ongoing basis - but are being mindful to tread the fine line between keeping customers informed and sending out too much promotional material, in order to solve this we are in fact in the process of developing our own Mountain White app which will be come a better way to shop our products and for us to communicate with the customer on new/ongoing launches, alongside a host of related content.
I make no excuses here Colin, we are working hard to try and do things a little differently and I can only apologise we have let you down this time.
Please feel free to come back to us should you have any further suggestions, we are always happy to listen - info@mountainwhite.co.uk
Regards
Robert
Robert,
ReplyDelete"The message below was included on the refund notes sent to you today, which you don't appear to have seen. I will look into what could have happened here and how we can make changes to fix this in the future."
I can assure you that this text did not appear in the email that I received.
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I wish you well. It's a tough thing you are trying to do.