07/02/24

Studio Visit — Oliver Church, Singular Garments

Wearable objects that represent a love for craft and lifestyle...

We travelled to the outskirts of Paris to visit one of our kiwi makers, Oliver Church of Singular Garments, at his studio. When we arrive we can see why he likes to work here: a lush courtyard, almost with a Japanese feel, welcomes you, and softens the details of the otherwise industrial building. It is quiet and leafy, a perfect place to lose oneself in antique fabrics and hand sewing...

Singular Garments are exactly as the name suggests. Each garment is hand made, including hand sewn buttonholes and labels, cut from antique linens and cotton, sourced by Oliver himself. Some fabrics are then hand dyed, using natural pigments. Oliver's hand is prevalent through the garment's entire process.

When we met, we spoke about his shift as a maker to move towards a work that is important and rewarding. This is the job that enables him to spend his days as he wants. Working with only a select few stockists worldwide, Oliver creates something unique and rare, adding more value to the already skill-infused pieces.

We paw through his personal collection of antique home textiles and indigo, boxes of buttons and threads, and a small library of hand sewing books, collected for him by his mother. He tells us he likes to sew in the morning with fresh eyes and fingers, and cut in the afternoon, to follow the natural sunlight that comes through his studio space.

The courtyard of studio Oliver Church, Singular Garments, in Paris.

The following day, Oliver was catching a train to the French countryside to pick grapes on a biodynamic farm. He simply loves to be outdoors and in the sun - the kiwi in him rearing his head, perhaps.

This balance between intense crafting and free living is the structure Oliver has built for himself, rewriting the rules in the fashion industry, and creating something that serves him by invigoration. And his garments are a result of this enthusiasm: a tangible, wearable object that represents a love for craft and for lifestyle.