Founded by Alice Holloway, Little Black Pants Club is based in Arch 42 Nursery Road in Brixton. A business that is all about community, it offers made to measure, ethical and affordable lingerie, handmade by their small and highly skilled team in south London.
To celebrate Arch Day on the 3 July, Little Black Pants Club will be hosting a Sweat Shop event, where they will set up a micro-production line on the street, where sweatshirts will be chalked, cut and handsewn right there. The purpose of the event is to start the conversation about how clothes are produced – taking it out of the studio and into the public eye. Alice and her team believe that by helping others to understand where and how fashion is created, they will then be better equipped to make an educated choice.
Little Black Pants Club was born out of a creative idea Alice had following the birth of her child, as she heard the frustrations from women around her to source underwear that fit their bodies. Alice saw a need to provide well-fitting lingerie made from ethically sourced materials, and utilised her skills honed from studying Jewellery Design at Central St Martins, and creating burlesque clothing and accessories for ASOS, to start the business. She loved the idea of humanising the clothing production process and working with customers to create something special, and the turnaround time of each garment allows Alice and her team of makers the chance to develop a personal relationship with each customer; something that became even more crucial during the pandemic, when consultations and fittings suddenly had to take place via video and WhatsApp. Alice also recognised that offering this service via a subscription would help to make the items more accessible, a decision that stood her in good stead when Covid struck.
The Arch Company’s invitation to secure match-funding presented itself as an exciting opportunity for the business. “For me, Arch Day came at a special time as we had been looking at routes for funding the Sweat Shop idea for a while. Having the resources to put it together has been brilliant. I love being part of the arches and can’t wait to celebrate our arches” Alice says.
Being Brixton-based is also a core part of Little Black Pants Club’s identity. Alice chose the railway arch because she loved: “how the arch offered us a blank canvas – total freedom to interact with it in a way that suited our needs. Space is so limited in London and having somewhere that feels open and allows us to experiment felt like an incredible opportunity.” The location of the arch also felt important and working near home continues to feel like a privilege. Alice says “I really do think Brixton is the best place in the whole world and it’s such a blessing to be able to work and live in the same area. We bump into our customers in the street, and we support the local businesses around us. I really value that community we are a part of.”
As the brand continues to evolve, Alice hopes to be able to offer more workshops within the studio, to repurpose garments that already exist, and to share the true value of slow fashion with others.
Arch 42 Nursery Rd, Ferndale, SW9 8BP