Hi, I’m Rhi and I’m the founder of Etikette.
After completing my degree in Fashion Design at Manchester School of Art I moved to London in 2014 and worked for several high-street fashion retailers. Being part of the fashion-machine, I soon became familiar with the ins-and-outs of the business. High-street fashion is FAST – consumer demand dictates a rapid turn-around and immediate results which can sometimes mean kindness to people and the planet is left behind.
Then 2020 arrived. Obviously I don’t need to expand more than to say that it’s been a bit of a shit show, one way or another, for everyone. After a couple of weeks of lockdown I somehow managed to draw a portion of my attention away from seemingly endless Netflix-viewing, stressing about loo roll, and questioning whether we needed to anti-bac the bananas, to focus on what I was going to do next. It had been a LONG time coming and something I had spent endless tube commutes dreaming about; Would it be possible to create a brand that, from the ground up, is rooted, steadfastly, in sustainability? One that operates upon a foundation of kindness – to the planet, to its customers, to its future employees, and to all who encounter it?
Well, I’m on a journey to find out, and would love you to be a part of what I’m striving to achieve.
Next, the product.
Pre-lockdown each morning’s dash to get ready – toast in one hand, mascara in the other, “where did I put my phone again?” “did I turn the straighteners off?” – would, without fail, be prolonged by one unique, and dreaded, ritual: The Coat Rack. “I’ve gone to great lengths to choose this outfit that’ll keep me warm but that I also like, now which of these jackets do I wear?” The wool maxi coat that I LOVE, but it won’t keep my dry? The cool, oversized denim jacket? But its 4 degrees out side! Or the cag-in-a-bag, which, quite frankly, doesn’t do me any favours, however does help me revisit my memories of guide camp circa 2005. Sometimes one of these options might work but would often feel like a compromise.
This is where the idea for Etikette was born – the search for the ever-elusive All-In-One, Do It All coat. No matter what outfit you wear or what weather gets thrown at you Etikette has you covered. Something that’s practical yet cool. The design has amalgamated a number of outerwear-staples to create a surprisingly simple, elegant and versatile solution: a coat that is equally at home on the tube and in the country. Importantly it is designed to transcend the seasonal, trend-thirsty business model of fast-fashion – Etikette coats are built to stand the test of time, both in construction and style.
A true all-rounder: elegant, stylish, light, rugged, weather-resistant, sustainable, and most importantly, kind.
It’s been in the making for quite some time, but lockdown gave me the opportunity to revive my great Grandmothers sewing machine and refine the overarching design that will be carried through each drop. Oh, and LOTS of sourcing.
As soon as I could get out of the house I walked the 12-mile round-trip to Somerset House to visit a co-working make and studio space called Makerversity which is now Etikette's base.
There’s been a lot more going on since then and step-by-step we are now almost ready to launch our first drop…
Thank you for following so far,
Rhi x