STORY OF THE STYLE – BUILDABLE ACCESSORIES
Next in our ‘Story of the Style’ series we spotlight our growing range of Buildable Accessories, designed to create our unique Marfa Stance solution to buy better and less. Offering a sustainable way to wear pieces in multiple ways again and again by building, adapting and transforming signature styles for life.
We take you behind the scenes of the production process in our small family run factories in Italy, to understand the hours of work it takes to make each style.
WHAT WAS YOUR INSPIRATION?
I love the idea that you can evolve and personalise your favourite styles across climates and seasons. The idea for the removable collar actually happened in one of our very first fitting sessions for the Signature Reversible Quilt. We had several collar options mocked up and upon deciding which should be attached to the Quilt, we immediately loved the idea that our customer should be able to decide for themselves! And so, the Removable Shearling Collar was born and became its very own style! This month we launched a new Reversible Quilted Collar version for Spring!The hoods came after receiving a photo from one of our customers wearing the Buildable Parka hood on the Signature Reversible Quilt, we immediately realised what a great idea this was also! We created a buildable and reversible Quilted Hood, followed by a Shearling version, for extra cosiness and as a stand-alone modular accessory.Build, play, and create your own Marfa Stance pieces, updating your styles for function, longevity or just for fun!
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO MAKE?
Each collar takes around 4 hours to make as there is a lot of details involved in crafting each small piece. There is even more detail in each hood, as you can reverse it and remove the shearling trim. All of this added function takes around 5 hours to construct.
HOW MANY ARTISANS WORK ON IT AND WHO ARE THEY?
It takes approximately 4-6 different women to make each accessory. The process involves a pattern maker, quilter, fabric and shearling cutters, seamstress and as always, each Marfa Stance style has at least two rounds of quality checks at the end of the whole process.
WHAT ARE THE KEY DESIGN ELEMENTS?
There is a lot of hand finishing in all of our accessories and as a result they are very time consuming and require skill to make. The buildable construction involves a lot of attention to detail and hand stitching.The shearling elements are all cut by hand, and for the Shearling Camouflage Collars, each colour is sewn together meticulously and skilfully at our expert family run factory in Florence. We actually used up-cycled shearling colours that we had left over from our fall productions for this style to ensure minimal waste.
WHAT ARE THE MODULAR ELEMENTS?
Our range of uniquely buildable accessories are designed to easily button on and off each Marfa Stance style, to personalise and update your pieces in multiple ways for lifelong wear.Rather than replacing our collection each season with a new line, it is our view that the most sustainable way to reduce waste and add new value to your beloved pieces is to evolve our line slowly and consciously with our of uniquely buildable accessories. These include Shearling Collars in complimenting colourways and camouflage print, both quilted and shearling Reversible Hoods, as well as the new Reversible Quilted Collars.We continue to develop our range with each collection so you can play with endless possibilities to personalise your own individual and unique Marfa Stance style. Watch out for new additions in the coming months...!