You meet many people along the journey in this crazy retail world… none (in my humble opinion), are as talented, considerate and gracious as Lauren Yates.
Lauren is the founder and creator of the brand W’menswear; a brand that re-adapts men’s clothing for the contemporary woman. It’s slogan – “hard hitting garments for hard hitting women” rings true to its ethos of celebrating different models of femininity throughout history with thoughtful collections. Lauren’s own history is peppered with art, photography, blogging, food, surfing, fishing and influences from growing up in Australia and Thailand. Often found travelling in some new corner of the globe, this true modern adventurer now calls Bangkok home.
Gaining popularity through her passion project Ponytail Journal – a blog that explores talented people making art, food, clothes and a difference in the world – Lauren created her first range for W’menswear out of a small shipping container come workshop. Her collections incorporate vintage and workwear aesthetics with authentic methods of fabrication to tell a story about the women they honour. Lauren works with local seamstresses, factories and artisans in her home base of Thailand to ensure quality and support a diverse economy.
When we opened our sister store Heffernan & Haire back in 2018, W’menswear was the first brand we wanted to launch with. We’d known Lauren for a few years by then and her respectful approach to everything she did shone through in this wonderful new brand. Since that first collection, W’menswear has gone from strength to strength and we are beyond excited whenever her new stuff drops! It was therefore no surprise that we asked Lauren to come on board as one of our 10 Year collaborators – a process she made absolutely delightful.
Our baseline started with the Good Ol’ Whats-Her-Face Flight Trousers (a firm PPHH favourite). Good Ol’ Whats-Her-Face is a line by W’menswear, designed to support a community of artisans using vintage or repurposed materials. These unisex trousers are made from a hand-selected off cuts of Japanese Denim and have a bespoke 10 Year PPHH Collaboration label stitched to the back pocket.
These trousers are hard hitting, unisex, comfortable, functional and above all super stylish!
