On August 17th 2021 we launched our first womens’ essentials.
In 2015 we set out to free wardrobe essentials, the garments we actually use and love, from fashion, and build a single permanent collection of garments without compromise. It turned out to be a journey not just in creating better garments, but fundamentally challenging how we produce, consume and care for our clothing. By introducing concepts like Full Transparency and Lifecycle Responsibility we’ve constantly raised the stakes, challenging ourselves and the industry to do better. Our ultimate goal is to help us as a society pursue a life with less: Leaner wardrobes, consisting of fewer and better garments that mean more to us, last longer and stay in use - and out of landfill.
The output of the past six years is a mere 35 mens essentials. And while we’re not quite done yet, the time has come to shift gears and start creating meaningful essentials not just for men, but for women too.
Our foundation, just as with menswear, is the permanence of our collection. Every item is created to be around forever, meaning we need to make every garment count. That’s a lot of pressure - but the beauty of it is that there are no limits to the amount of time and resources we can invest in perfecting each item. And as a result, we can afford to do things a little differently at ASKET.
We create only what we need - we don’t create needs. We look back in time for the pieces that have always been around, and always will be. The result is a permanent collection of meaningful essentials, that you can count on feeling comfortable with - and being around forever.
The fashion industry squeezes us all into a few standard sizes. But with fewer garments, designed to be around forever, we can offer more and smarter sizing, taking into account that we’re not all built the same. It’s sizing designed to fit more women, better.
With a permanent collection, we can’t afford shortcuts: Our first womens’ pieces are made exclusively of long staple organic cotton, traceable merino, recycled wool and cashmere - milled and manufactured in artisanal European factories that we’ve worked with for years.
No middlemen, no wholesale, no retail tricks, no sales - no nonsense, period. Since our inception we’ve cut out the fashion fat, removing what doesn’t add value and investing in what does. That means we price our garments right, 365 days a year. You pay for craftsmanship - not a logo.
If there’s one thing we’ve learnt the past six years it’s that good things take time. And with a permanent collection, there’s no reason to rush. So don’t expect a full collection or even finished garments - but a journey. Together, we’ll introduce, refine and perfect a permanent range of timeless essentials for women - one, or sometimes a few, garments at a time. Head down to explore our first three garments:
Launched August 2021
The T-Shirt was our first men’s garment and it will be for women too. After Marlon Brando made it a youthful symbol of rebellion some 70 years ago, it didn’t take long before Jane Birkin cemented its relevance in the womens’ wardrobe too. Dress it up with a skirt, or make it a statement with a pair of blue denim - no wardrobe is complete without it. The key is quality and fit. We’ve sourced organically farmed cotton to custom-develop a single jersey mid-weight fabric that drapes beautifully without being transparent and is substantial, without becoming bulky. It took our men’s tee 2 years to be crowned the world’s best by The Guardian - let’s see if we can set a new personal best.
Launched August 2021
White Tee. Blue Jeans. The two basically finish each others sentences. Inevitably launching together with The T-Shirt - is The Standard Jeans. Standard as in neither skinny nor boyfriend, not flared or bootcut, not a low cut nor a “mom”-jeans. It’s just - right. A timeless, ever-so-slightly tapered silhouette, cut from a 13oz Italian denim made of 98,5% organic cotton and 1,5% naturally degradable elastane for just the right amount of stretch. And as if that wouldn’t already help, they’ll be available in over 50 size combinations ensuring the same shape, no matter how you’re shaped.
Launched August 2021
If we’re qualifying essentials based of their history, The Shirt would be the “essentialest” essential of them all. Dating back to 27 BC, we do have to fast forward to Marie Antoinette and then skip another few hundred years before its popularisation as an everyday essential by way of Katherine Hepburn, Uma Thurman and the likes. Sprung from its origins in formalwear, we’ve designed The Shirt, as THE only Shirt you need, no matter the occasion. Cut from a crisp and breezy organic cotton poplin, it features a slightly oversized silhouette with dropped shoulders and generous cuffs and collar. Pop it over a pair of blue denim or tuck it into a skirt. Or just skip the bottoms entirely for a day on the sofa, or at the beach. We promise, it’ll elevate any look.
First Knitwear - Launched October 2021
Once we’ve introduced our first three pieces to the permanent womens’ collection we’ll gradually improve those garments based on your feedback, only then ramping up production for full stock availability. Once our first three garments have passed the test of your approval, we’ll start introducing the next items - knitwear - in limited stock. Slow and steady wins the race - or in this case, saves us from wasting precious resources by presupposing that what WE think is amazing, is what YOU think is amazing. Every new garment is released in “beta” or limited stock availability to collect feedback from our first customers, before ramping up to full stock availability.