Start With The Right Fabric

Textile Innovation

Having been in the fashion industry all my working life and working my way up from the shop floor, I like to think that I have done or been involved in just about every process of a clothing brand. That is why when we created Rey-House.com we had a pretty good idea where the pinch points were, that we believe created the problems around clothes not fitting (Only 8.2% of the female population, can easily find clothes to fit them. Data Kantar 2022) 

So we started where we believed the first problem was and that was the fabric. The complex world of fabrics and fabric development is a minefield and is largely governed by fashion trends and in the sport sector, performance is the driver. What we discovered is that a vast amount of fabrics are not built to last or perform, generally because it all starts with price.

We have experimented with huge amounts of sample fabrics and discarded over 95% of them as not good enough for what we are trying to achieve. The 5% that we started to work with, many of those we have since dropped or worked with the fabric mills to try and improve the performance and structure.  This is even more challenging because we are a small business and are restricted with how much we can actually buy and are not a large corporation with big R&D budgets.

What we have clearly found is that, once we have identified what we believe to be the right fabric our lives have become so much easier when we have then gone on to design the shapes that we believe fit our customers. Having the right fabric has made it easier to make and grade our patterns.

The look and feel of those fabrics is so important for the customer, they need to feel that the quality is there, the fabric feels great against their skin and it drapes nicely. On a practical side it needs to perform and be easy to care for in order that it lasts.

Th criteria for the fabrics we develop and buy are: They need to feel fantastic, they need perform to quality standards, they need be practical for the craftsmen who are working with it and for the customers to look after and. they need to look great. 

With all this in mind we set about working with a large fabric mill who has been developing and working with us on new and innovative fabric ideas. We wanted to create the most beautifully comfortable leisurewear collection. It needed to feel fantastic against the skin, be easy to care for, look great, not crease or lose quality once washed. We started to use the technology G-Pro