On Collaborations & Conversations
I've always enjoyed a good conversation, in fact, I value it over most things. Having your ideas challenged, listening to others about subjects you know little about and asking (sometimes awkward) questions have always been part of my character. I've got a very inquisitive nature and I find conversations are a fun way of educating myself, challenging my own (and others) opinions and most importantly - having a laugh! I like to think most of my friends like that about me (as frustrating as I can sometimes be).
When I started Mamnick just over four years ago, I wanted this 'love of conversation' to feed into my brand. Coming from a fairly humble background, I'd always aspired to own nice things and I think it was (and maybe still is) a part of being a young growing up around working-class culture in the North. I'd say it's this part of our culture that has brought me close to people many people.
Today is no different, many of my conversations with good friends revolve around clothing details, fabrics, the bike and culture. We never really take ourselves too seriously and we're always looking to have a laugh at each others expense.
I feel like I've been lucky to extend these conversations into Mamnick. Firstly, I learnt a lot from my first collaboration with Kenneth Mackenzie (6876) when we produced the ventile Eyam smock back in 2015. Since then I've working with a spectrum of brands and artists, from big ones such as Rapha and Clarks Originals, to other similar-minded boutique brands like INSTRMNT and recently Banton Frameworks.
I'm always looking for a synergy when it comes to collaboration, it might be a shared love for the bike (Rapha), working on limited runs and beautiful fabrics (6876) but always focusing on the finer details that make a product more appealing for our customer.
I think conversations are important for things to progress, not just for my brand but in life generally and now seems like a great time to write this down and to thank the people who I've had conversation with so far. Friends on the bike, people down the pub or online via social media.
I think it adds richness and value to my life, gives me fresh perspectives and hopefully this shows through in the Mamnick brand.
Thom
Comments on this post (1)
Always a pleasure, never a chore Thom. All the best from us both at Banton Frameworks. ?
— Jamie & Lucy