Explain the brand name: ‘about:blank’

You wouldn’t believe how hard it is to come up with a name these days, quite literally everything is taken in terms of Instagram handles and domain names. We toyed around with a few different names, one, in particular, was ‘Sunday Uniform’ however it felt a bit religious for the vibe we were going for.

Then we found about:blank, the page that appears when your web browser has nothing else to display. Not a page on the internet, but rather something internally inside your browser. This matched perfectly with our vision, focusing on contemporary minimalism, about:blank clothing consists of blank, minimal, unisex pieces that are designed to last: with a nod to sustainability

Tell us how the brand came about?

Both of us had been thinking about this for a while and just decided to go for it. There’s quite literally never a good time to do anything, so you might as well get started and give it a go, and that’s exactly what we did. We both have a deep love for fashion and we just wanted to express our ideas and see what happened.

It’s no secret that there are other minimalist brands out there, going for a similar boxy, modern tailoring look like us. However, there’s certainly a gap in the market for a well-rounded brand in this space. For many, the issue here is price, quality, customer service, and untrustworthiness. We’re hoping to be able to combat that, whilst offering our piece to the fashion world.

Talk us through this first collection

We wanted to really make an impact with this first collection to really show how serious we are about launching in the space. Splitting it into two drops: the first, more commercial, including staple pieces and our branding. Whilst the second was much more minimal, focusing on the cut and colours of the garments more than anything.

Just like everyone else, we struggled with timings due to Covid and had to push the initial launch a couple of months. However, all good things come to those who wait - they say! And the initial response to this first collection has been utterly overwhelming. We can’t believe what we’ve managed to achieve already in just 2 months.

What are your favourite pieces from the new collection?

Definitely, the concrete and oat sets. The utility vest in particular is something we spoke about when initially designing the first collection and we knew it was going to be a best seller of ours as soon as we got the pre-production sample in. It looks so good when layered with the worker jacket and concrete cropped pants too, a full concrete fit that can be dressed up and down.

Then there’s the oat set, the colour and fit of this are just insane. In particular, the pocket detailing at the bottom of the shirt really stands out.

It seems like a basic golden rule but whenever we’re creating pieces, we never make anything we wouldn’t wear ourselves. We make sure it’s blank, minimal, and good quality so it lasts. We want our pieces to become staples in people’s wardrobes, so they can be worn again and again with different outfits - none of this buy and wear once nonsense.

You mention ‘a nod to sustainability’ on your website - what does that mean?

We are really keen to become fully sustainable as soon as we can, however, being a small independent brand we were unable to do this with our first collection due to costs and minimum order quantities. As a result, we’ve done what we can for now. Meaning that all of our labels, swing tags, and comp slips are made out of recycled cardboard and our zip lock bags which protect each garment whilst shipping are 100% biodegradable.

Can you tell us more about the manufacturing process?

Happily, we really want to be transparent with our manufacturing process as we feel it matters a lot to customers, especially now. People want to know you’re not just buying blanks and printing on them or sewing in your labels. Each piece of ours is individually cut and sewn using the fabrics we choose ourselves to ensure the quality matches those of other high-end brands.

Currently, we manufacture between Turkey and Portugal. Obviously, Portugal is where everyone wants to be at the moment but we actually initially chose Turkey because of Brexit. When starting the brand, we didn’t know what the outcome of Brexit was going to be with Portugal and therefore opted for Turkey due to its already established trade relationships with the UK. We’ve found a couple of really good, small, family-run factories that align with our vision and understand the level of attention to detail we want and quality. This really comes through in collection:one, especially with the stitching detail on our worker shirts and jackets.

Your beach shoot received an incredible response ahead of drop:two, can you tell us a little more about that?

We always planned to do a big editorial style shoot for drop:two, however, we hadn’t quite got everything down, in fact, we managed to plan the shoot book the models, and get everything done in the space of 2 days. It was one of those times where everything just comes together, and of course, shooting with Adam Fussel made things so much easier.

Honestly, if you’d seen our reaction when the WeTransfer came over from Adam it was priceless, literally exactly what we wanted.

What are your plans for the brand? … Can you give us a little taster of what’s to come?

We’re currently in sampling and in production for our Autumn/Winter drops. Unlike the previous collection, we’ll be breaking this down into smaller, more consistent drops going forward to keep things fresh and exciting. We will keep you guys posted with this one, however, expect nice earthy tones along with the use of some different and unique fabrics - all while maintaining that quality and fit, of course.

Can we expect a collaboration with another brand in the near future?

Maybe, it’s something we’d definitely be interested in…maybe with independent designers or even nclgallery?

about:blank collection:one is available online now - Click here to shop.