Practical, unisex clothing made in Japan: Meet Perth-based label, Man-tle

AS TOLD TO daisy henry

“We see the three main themes of our work as being practicality, appreciation in the making of our clothes and the joy of ageing garments.”

Since it first launched in 2015, Perth-based clothing label Man-tle’s approach has remained largely unchanged. Founders and husband-wife duo, Larz Harry and Aida Kim, set out to create a textile-focused brand, designed to evolve and get better with wear. 10 years on, Man-tle continues to design simple, durable garments that place far greater value on materials and production, than on rapidly evolving trends.

The label began with the idea of crafting long-lasting heavy shirting. Larz and Aida travelled to Shizuoka in Japan to meet the owners of a mill known for its wax cotton cloth, and developed a modified version that suited their vision. “We lived and worked in the industry in Japan for many years before starting Man-tle so this happened organically for us,” Larz tells me.

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Though the couple’s careers have taken them around the world (Larz previously worked at Dover Street Market in London and Aida at Comme des Garçons in Japan, they planted Man-tle’s roots in Australia. “We love the distance we have from the greater industry. We make singular garments and the isolation here means we can focus on the details,” Larz explains.

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Fashion Journal: Hi Larz, Can you tell me a little about yours and Aida’s background in fashion?

Larz: Aida is from South Korea. She studied photography in Japan before working as a visual merchandiser and brand director at Comme des Garçons in Japan. I’m Australian and studied fashion design in WA before working for Dover Street Market in London, and then in Tokyo in a marketing and communications role. We’re based in Perth now.

We chose to be based in Australia for the perspective it provided us. We love the distance we have from the greater industry. We make singular garments and the isolation here means we can focus on the details.

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How did Man-tle get started? Talk us through the process and challenges.

We founded the brand in 2015 with the first collection being AW16. We had an idea to make long-lasting, heavy shirting when we, by chance, met a mill in Japan that produced a waxed cotton cloth. That seemed like a good starting point. We then travelled to Shizuoka to meet the family and develop a slightly modified version that worked better for us. We produced a small collection using this singular fabric and then presented the samples to our contacts in the industry.

Tell us about how you came up with the label’s name?

The name came from the mantle layer below the Earth’s crust. Dense and insulating. When we started, we solely produced menswear. We also like the idea of men’s tools — man, tool. Man-tle.

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How has Man-tle evolved since it first launched and what are you trying to achieve now?

Our intentions have remained mostly unchanged. We make clothing that is textile-focused, lasts a long time, evolves with washing and wear and speaks to the processes in development and manufacturing. We see the three main themes of our work as being practicality, appreciation in the making of our clothes and the joy of ageing garments.

Can you tell me a bit about how you source your materials and your supply chain?

Most of our fabrics are original and we work very closely with a large network of family-run mills throughout Japan to develop these. We lived and worked in the industry in Japan for many years before starting Man-tle so this happened organically for us.

We cut and sew all of our garments in Japan using different mills for each category of product. Many of our fabrics are ongoing and represented each year in the collections. The hardware and cloth form a package (we call these systems) which are long-term developments we use again and again.