{"id":1415799,"date":"2026-01-07T15:47:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T12:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1415799"},"modified":"2026-01-07T15:47:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T12:47:09","slug":"oliver-churchs-shirts-are-literally-one-of-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1415799","title":{"rendered":"Oliver Church\u2019s Shirts Are Literally One of One"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Shortly before the beginning of this year, Evan Kinori took over a small gallery in London to show his Fall\/Winter collection alongside the work of a select few designers. When I visited the space, I was particularly drawn to two checked shirts by Oliver Church, a New Zealand-born designer who now lives and works in Paris, using vintage Japanese fabrics and specializing in \u201csingular garments.\u201d I\u2019ve followed Church\u2019s work for a while; he began making clothes under his own name six years ago, using vintage cloth to make and hand-finish shirts and overshirts \u2014 each one completely unique. On those two shirts, the detail that struck me most was the hand-embroidered button holes.<\/p>\n

For Church, everything begins with fabric. When he moved to Paris in early 2018, he found himself surrounded by vintage linens and cottons, preserved and passed down over decades. Church studied fashion design in New Zealand and worked in design and production in London, but these fabrics offered a new way of working. \u201cI\u2019d spent time researching and developing textiles to give them a sense of age or wear,\u201d he says. \u201cIt struck me that I didn\u2019t need to reverse engineer this process. I could go directly to the source.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Celia Spenard-Ko \/ @ceeesk<\/div>\n

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The fabrics that Church now uses dictate the nature of the garments he creates, which vary from workwear-style chore jackets and coats to soft, unlined shirts and comfortable blazers. For starters, almost everything he uses is either vintage (which Church defines as more than 50 years old) or antique (more than 100). At first, he would visit flea markets around Paris, or trawl the French countryside to find his materials. But over time, he has built relationships with dealers and brocanteurs<\/em> who help with sourcing. \u201cI now buy mostly from a couple of market stalls who know what I like,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Because the fabrics are so old, it\u2019s rare that Church can ever find a full bolt. Instead, he buys his vintage French linens or cottons in small sections. These limited quantities mean it\u2019s impossible to make multiples of any garment, as more traditional brands might. \u201cAlthough some fabrics might have similar qualities, they are distinctive because they are made by different mills at different times in different areas,\u201d he says. Church embraces this unpredictability, cutting, sewing, and dyeing each piece by hand. The result is clothes that aren\u2019t simply unique, but that have an authentic wear-feel \u2014 a reminder of the handiwork, literally, behind their production.<\/p>\n

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Courtesy of Oliver Church, , <\/div>\n

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\u201cAll the processes that make clothes are ultimately very human,\u201d Church says. For him, this is a contrast to what much of the wider industry is doing. \u201cI have noticed an increasing flatness in the industry at large; things all feel and look the same,\u201d he says. \u201cOf course there are brands that do better and have developed their own language, but for many if you brush your hand along a rail, it would be hard to tell one from another.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once the materials are sourced, the real work begins: Church steam-washes everything before cutting a week\u2019s worth of fabric by hand. The garments begin to take shape through machine-sewing, which is followed by a couple of days of hand-stitching. \u201cBefore industrial production, each garment was idiosyncratic, with little signatures from the hand that sewed it,\u201d Church says. \u201cNow the differences between garments are seen as a fault.\u201d In Church\u2019s hands, these differences feel significant again. \u201cHand-sewing is forgiving in a way that machines are not,\u201d he says. \u201cSo adding these hand-sewn details in all my pieces adds softness.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Mouki Mou \/ @moukimoulondon<\/div>\n

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Once each item has been constructed, Church dyes it two or three times to build up a level of color he\u2019s happy with. After a couple more washes, he adds labels and tags. Each stage of the process \u2014 from sourcing and cutting to sewing and dyeing \u2014 is done by Church himself in a small atelier on the outskirts of Paris.<\/p>\n

Of course, working in this way has limitations. Church estimates that he produces somewhere between 150 and 200 pieces of clothing each year, which could practically be a rounding error for a bigger brand. \u201cThe work takes the time it takes,\u201d he says. His methods mean that he doesn\u2019t have to work to strict deadlines, manage a team, or work alongside busy factories. It also has an impact on the price of Church\u2019s garments, with shirts generally costing around $1,000. \u201cUltimately my prices are a reflection of my working hours and what I have decided will let me have a decent life in France,\u201d he says. \u201cSince COVID I have seen a huge rise in prices of many labels across the designer and luxury sector, an increase that hasn’t been explained by an increased quality of fabrics, finishing, or on-shoring. I am putting less of a markup on the end product.\u201d<\/p>\n

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After production, Church\u2019s clothes are distributed through his personal relationships, either directly to private clients or through a select network of retailers across the world who buy into Church\u2019s ideas. \u201cYou can put a person behind the work and care,\u201d says Saager Dilawri, founder of Vancouver store Neighbour and a longtime Oliver Church supporter. \u201cIn an industry where that is rare, I feel like this sticks out.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Neighbour \/ @shopneighbour, Neighbour \/ @shopneighbour<\/div>\n

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Dilawri originally connected with Church over Instagram, intrigued by the designer\u2019s process. Neighbour soon came on board and began stocking Church\u2019s garments, with Dilawri and Church becoming good friends along the way. \u201cI have two pieces from Oliver, a classic shirt and a big jacket that he made for Neighbour,\u201d Dilawri says. \u201cThe shirt I wear regularly; it has aged nicely and become a go-to piece in my wardrobe. The big jacket is something I wear less often, though I know I will have it for years to come, and I look forward to how the dye will age and break in.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The way that clothes change over time is an important part of how Church works. While the brand\u2019s resulting styles are timeless and uncomplicated, it\u2019s through the fabrics and finishes that they come to life. \u201cWhat has always interested me about clothes, and what draws me to clothing to this day, is age,\u201d he says. \u201cI think clothes should last and are nicest when they do, so I spend time constructing in a way that allows for longevity. Clothes become much more personal the longer they are worn.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Maidens \/ @maidens_shop<\/div>\n

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While Church\u2019s process might be different from the wider industry, the time he spent working for brands including Garbstore and Casey Casey showed him what was possible. \u201cI was aware that the market existed and that I just needed an opening to make a connection with clients,\u201d he says. Working closely with retailers like Neighbour has allowed Church to reach this audience. \u201cIt would be impossible for me to sit down with every single buyer of my work and tell them how and why I work the way that I do,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m lucky to have such great representation.\u201d<\/p>\n

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In an industry where rarity has become its own form of currency, Church\u2019s garments stand out for reasons more legitimate than any \u201climited-edition\u201d run of otherwise identical copies. Anonymous and forgettable they are not. Instead, these are clothes that come from a specific place and time and will continue to change with the wearer\u2019s unique story.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source URL: http:\/\/highsnobiety.com\/p\/oliver-church-shirts-are-literally-one-of-one-interview\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Want to stay in the loop?We’ve got you coveredDownload the Highsnobiety\u00a0App now Shortly before the beginning of this year, Evan Kinori took over a small gallery in London to show his Fall\/Winter collection alongside the work of a select few designers. When I visited the space, I was particularly drawn to two checked shirts by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1415800,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[56],"class_list":["post-1415799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-highsnobiety-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1415799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1415799"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1415799\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1415800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1415799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1415799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1415799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}