About Us
WHO ARE WE?
We are Manchester based designers of completely unique and high-quality men’s shirts. Available online and from a select number of premium independent retailers, we aim to help our customers stand out from the crowd. That may be as simple as sporting an interesting collar and cuff lining on a beautifully made white shirt at the office. Or it may be as bold as lava flowing from a volcanic eruption rendered on the entire body of the shirt – perfect for letting your friends know that you are not afraid to make a statement when on an evening out.
From the board room to the cocktail bar (we don’t recommend doing it the other way around), we’ve got amazing shirts for every mood and occasion.
UNIQUE BRITISH DESIGNS
At Blake Mill we aim to deliver unique and original prints and patterns on every shirt. The designs and their placement ranges from big and bold to subtle and discreet depending on the personality that you want to convey. Inspiration comes from the fascinating world around all of us. Be it freedom of speech, the ferocity of an electrical storm or the tranquillity of a tropical lagoon, all Blake Mill shirts tell a story.
COLLABORATIVE DESIGN PROCESS
We constantly look for new sources of inspiration. Our customers have been invaluable contributors of new ideas as has been an expanding group of artists we work with every day.
Some brands are tied to a big-name designer. Blake Mill’s ‘design authority’ is the community of customers, artists, retailers and suppliers who all play a role in contributing to the originality and uniqueness of each final product.
As we scale up the design collaboration process with a dedicated team and mobile app, it will become easier and more rewarding for all those involved to participate here in the UK and ultimately around the world.
WE CARE ABOUT QUALITY
Average shirts look great brand new and on a hanger, but they can age quickly once washed a few times. A great shirt is an investment, one that still looks new years after it’s purchased.
We are obsessed with excellence and work very hard to deliver the highest quality shirts possible to our customers. Over two thousand fabrics from eight different countries were considered before finding one good enough for our first production run. Optimal stitch count, robust yet beautiful buttons and a collar which was re-designed fifty-three times all play an important part in the final product – your perfect shirt!
Once a new shirt prototype arrives in the shop it is submitted to the ultimate test: we wear it ourselves. Our colleague Ross holds the record having spent several days in one shirt at Glastonbury. After a much needed pass through the washing machine, it came back as good as new.
Should you actually want to be deluged with serious detail about what goes into making a Blake Mill shirt, click here.
TAKING CUSTOMERS SERIOUSLY
Most companies boast about the quality of their client service, right up to the point they put you on ‘death hold’ with terrible music in the background. It drives you nuts, and trust us, it drives us nuts as well. So we decided to do something remarkably simple: to promise good customer service, and then actually deliver it.
We know you have a choice. If you have a problem, or a question, don't hesitate to call us. Our phone number is listed at the top of the "Contact Us" page (it’s +44 161 509 2055 and email is info@blakemill.com) we'd love to hear from you. And if it's a problem you're calling us about, we promise to sort it out...
WE CARE ABOUT PEOPLE
We want customers to feel great when they wear our shirts. But we are acutely aware that many people are afflicted with mental health challenges that disguise their internal suffering and challenges from their outward appearance.
All of us at Blake Mill have connection to mental health issues either personally or through family or friends and we want to do something about it. To begin, we launched a collection of shirts we call “Mind Over Matter” and we’ll be donating a percentage of sales from that collection to the UK’s biggest mental health charity, Mind through our partner Work for Good. It’s a small step but it’s a start.
ETHICAL FASHION
Fashion has an appalling reputation for exploiting its workers. Garments are often made in crowded, unsafe factories. And the industry has been repeatedly shamed for the use of child labour. Cheap fashion can come at a very high price for the people who make it.
Blake Mill shirts are made in safe, ethical environments. We work with reputable and experienced factories that ensure their workers are treated with respect, well trained and paid proper wages. And we've minimised to near zero our use of plastic and non-recyclable materials.