Rolf Skeldon is our lead designer. Meticulous, opinionated about materials, impossible to satisfy on construction details, and entirely fictional.
The brand is run by its founder, who created Rolf as a way of giving a name to a very specific set of values about how clothing should be made. Somewhere along the way Rolf became real enough that suppliers call the founder by his name on the phone, catch themselves, and laugh.
Where It Started
It started with a pair of bamboo boxer shorts from another brand that turned out to contain elastane. Then wool socks with nylon in them. Then a cotton t-shirt stitched with polyester thread.
The question was simple: how difficult would it be to just make the actual thing?
Extremely difficult, as it turned out. Finding UK manufacturers willing to work with unfamiliar materials. Sourcing natural rubber elastic when every supplier defaulted to synthetic. Tracking down drawstrings without plastic tips. But that's exactly what we did. And once we'd committed to that standard, there was no going back.
What We Make
Every Rolf Skeldon product is built around one principle: if we say it's natural, it actually is. Not mostly. Not except for the thread. Actually.
Our cotton boxer shorts use 100% cotton sewing threads and natural rubber elastic. Our organic cotton joggers and sweatpants are made with GOTS certified organic cotton, unbleached natural cotton drawstrings, and Tencel embroidery thread. Our swim shorts are made from SEAQUAL® yarn produced from ocean plastic. Our t-shirts use the Remill® closed loop recycling process. Our stone beaded bracelets are handcrafted in mid Wales.
Everything is made in the UK, with manufacturers we know personally.
Why It Costs What It Costs
UK manufacturing costs more than overseas. Natural rubber elastic costs more than synthetic. Single fibre construction, where every component of a garment is the same material to make recycling genuinely possible, costs more to source and produce.
We're a small brand making a small number of genuinely well constructed garments. The price reflects what that actually costs. The longevity reflects why it's worth it.
The Standard
There's a version of sustainable fashion that's mostly about messaging. Brands that add an organic line to a predominantly synthetic range. Brands that use recycled materials in one product and conventional materials in everything else.
We're not interested in that version. Once you've spent weeks searching for a cotton drawstring without a plastic tip, you've already decided what kind of brand you're going to be.
It's a tough gig. We wouldn't have it any other way.
