clandar.qxp_Layout 1 24/11/2016 16:45 Page 1 ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE Clandar's Harris tweed coat and House tweed waistcoat and tie
A VERY BRITISH AFFAIR
The Bath Magazine speaks to the founder of a Bath company determined to bring British textiles to the fore
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itting in the shadows of Bath Abbey is a shop that has been doing rather exciting things over the past four years. Clandar works with British tweed mills and sources its own tweeds, linings, buttons and trims, which it sends to its tailors to be made up into its own designs for both men and women. Its tweed ranges are exclusively made for its Bath shop on Cheap Street and its website. It also offers the most indulgent Scottish cashmere and merino wool, which is woven for Clandar in British mills, that were founded over 150 years ago. Having become a firm favourite with locals and tourists alike, looking for something of high quality that genuinely comes from the British Isles, we spoke to Clandar’s founder, Rianna Pritchard. What made you open a shop in Bath? I became interested in business from a very young age, as I had grown up in a family business. So, when I moved to Bath in 1999 and fell in love with the city, the idea of opening a business here one day, seemed like a very natural thing to do. The question was, what would we sell? I'd always been interested in different cultures and found it odd that you could travel to the Far East, for example, and easily acquire the most beautiful items that had been skilfully produced there, but that the same couldn't be said for Britain. It was odd, as Britain had such a reputation for making fine, quality items and British made goods were world renowned. I understand the economic argument of it being cheaper for retailers to make items abroad to keep their costs down, but surely, there’s a place for high quality, skilfully made British items to be sold in Britain? Surely, customers should be offered this choice? So, I thought, right, I’m going to sell British made items. It's been quite a journey!
Had you been working in the textile industry? No, after reading Economics at university, I went to law school for two years and then joined a large corporate law firm. Unfortunately, the Law wasn’t for me. I needed a career where I could be creative and deep down, I wanted to run my own business. I’d always been interested in textiles, colour and design and now find myself doing something I adore. The design and cut are of paramount importance. I’m interested in designs that are truly flattering . . . that look great on real people. I’m also obsessed with sourcing the highest quality fabrics and trims. I literally look through thousands of tweed and lining swatches and every now and then I’ll come across something that stops me in my tracks. Something that literally makes me say “wow!”. It's these items that make it into our ranges. One of the hardest parts of the process is finding tailors and manufacturers in Britain that can turn our designs and fabrics into actual clothing, as the majority of them have been forced to close, due to retailers taking their manufacturing abroad. It’s a shame. Have there been any recent highlights? This year we’ve been so excited to develop and showcase our first ladies coat. It’s made from an earthy toned Harris tweed, which we source directly from one of the mills in the Scottish Outer Hebrides. Harris tweed is still handwoven on manual handlooms by islanders in their tiny cottages, on these rugged, windswept but utterly beautiful Scottish islands. It’s phenomenal in this day and age. We have the Harris tweed sent to our English tailors on 50m rolls and then we post them burnished metal shank buttons and a golden, two-toned shot twill lining, that we have carefully sourced ourselves. To be honest, we were a little nervous when we introduced the coat, but thankfully, it has proven to be
extremely popular. Another Rianna Pritchard highlight has been the creation of our House tweed. We’ve worked with a British mill to design our own tweed colourway, that the mill will not weave for anyone else in the world. They wove 250m of it for us recently. We have turned it into waistcoats and ties and are currently working on turning it into men’s jackets. We feel so privileged to have our own House tweed and to be able to offer something so exclusive to our customers. What's it like running a business in Bath? It's fantastic. I have been genuinely taken aback by the support we have received from locals. They really understand what we are doing. Even the models on our website and flyers are locals. They aren’t professional models, but appreciate what we are doing and were kind enough to help us out. On that note, if anyone reading this thinks that they might be model material and would fancy modelling for us . . . drop us an email. All ages welcome! It’s not just me though. I have an absolutely excellent team around me. We are lucky to have attracted some fabulous people to work in our shop – individuals who are truly interested in what we are doing and who themselves have a rich background, that they bring with them. It’s a real joint effort. What’s next for Clandar? I believe in letting the business grow organically and prefer our customers to lead the path we take. There’s probably expansion on the horizon. Let’s see what the future holds – I’m sure it’s going to be exciting. Clandar, 15 Cheap Street, Bath, BA1 1NA. Web: clandar.co.uk. n
THEBATHMAG.CO.UK
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December 2016
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TheBATHmagazine 33