Local manufacturing

The manufacture of textile and clothes was once the single most important industry throughout Britain; this industry helped define the Victorian era and was the driving force for the Industrial revolution. Sadly, by the middle of the twentieth century it had all but disappeared.

In recent years there has been a move to reverse this trend and I’m proud to play a small part of this new creative revolution. I decided to manufacture all my clothes in the UK because I loved the idea of working closely with local communities, supporting local makers, and putting back into the local economy. I didn’t want to have to travel around to world to find people to make my dresses or be compelled to ship fabric and dresses back and forth: what a waste of time and energy not to mention the negative impact that would have on the carbon footprint of a garment! On the contrary, I wanted to manufacture locally, see where my clothes were being made and to get to know the wonderful people who are sewing my designs. Five years on, we have built strong relationships with our partner makers, visiting them weekly and together we have grown a lovely business together.

Batch production

We produce in batches to save waste. Once our dresses have been designed, patterns created, and fabrics selected, we ask our makers to cut and sew in batches throughout the year. By ‘batching’ we control both the quantity and quality of our clothes. The styles are cut with care, in manageable amounts, to avoid fabric waste and to ensure that any flaws in the fabric are avoided (this is particularly relevant with deadstock fabrics). Flaws in fabric simply lead to garments being rejected in quality control thus wasting both material and labour. Small batch production means we don’t carry huge unmanageable stocks, whilst allowing the flexibility to make more quickly responding to demand. It means that we don’t have huge stocks to sell in sales as we don’t overproduce, whilst conversely, we can usually add a few more should you miss out on a favourite style.

Contact Elizabeth at support@justinetabak.co.uk to go on any waiting lists.

Nottingham Lace

I’ve always been fascinated by lace, its delicate nature and wealth of patterns, and always wanted to include lace in my designs. I discovered exactly what I was looking for at the Cluny Lace Company, the last remaining lace maker in England. Owned by the Mason family for nearly 200 years, they have a long history of making distinctive patterns of lace from their vast archives. Their purposely designed factory, built around 1900, is situated on the border of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire in the heart of the UK. It is a joy to be buying their lace for our dresses, not only is it stunningly beautiful, but we are also delighted to support the tradition of lacemaking in this country. 

Scottish knitwear

We are proud to work with makers in Scotland who have a long heritage of creating beautiful fine knitwear. Not only do we support the craft of knitting in the UK, almost all the yarns spun for our knitwear is sourced locally too, keeping the carbon footprint of our knits to an absolute minimum.

When you buy a knitted piece from Justine Tabak, you are buying into a tradition of craft and workmanship that comes from Scottish manufacturing, made with care for the environment with ethical sourcing. We style with longevity in mind, our knits designed to be cherished, and passed on for years to come, always using natural yarns which biodegrade back into the environment.

Many of our knitwear pieces are created ‘in the round’, a process of seam free whole garment knitting where the jumpers are cast off the machines as a complete piece with zero waste.

Deadstock fabric

Deadstock is certainly not a pretty name but by using these remainder fabrics, we are lessening our impact on the environment by making use of beautiful leftovers. What’s more, it’s hugely rewarding to revive and revitalise these fabrics into some of our most beautiful dresses. Due to the nature of deadstock, supply is limited and finite and we sometimes make just ten of each design. So, by its very nature the use of deadstock fabric fits perfectly with our model of batch production and our ‘slow fashion’ ethos: we’re not making too much of any one thing, once it’s gone it’s gone meaning that each dress is a treasure to be kept and worn with pride.

Just around the corner from our studio in Hackney is a warehouse full of deadstock fabric; it is an Aladdin’s Cave of some of the most glorious fabrics I’ve ever seen in my life. Sometimes, I have to clamber over the mountains of ordinary cottons and synthetics to reach the gems, but it is worth it!