I had the pleasure of meeting Kenneth Mackenzie at his studio on Wednesday gone, for a lengthy chat about the brand, future plans and generally delving into what makes all things 6876 tick. Having cyber 'met' him over the years via my many mithering emails it was good to finally put a face to the name, Kenneth is an enthusiastic character and his passion for what he does really shows through. There were lots of little boxes on lots of shelves, with fabric swatches, archive pieces, books from around the world, old photographs and old handmade look books from the first seasons all archived. With great framed original artwork, lots of curious little things and the odd bicycle. This is a label which I've been fond of, plugged and preached about and been wearing consistently for many years. I started wearing it as a bit of a crossover to be different from the norm during my match going days - something that was never worn by your stereotypical football lad, frankly it should never be pigeon holed as one of those labels in my opinion, despite it's later popularity amongst that group. More something that is worn by all walks of life instead. The brand has a great philosophy behind it, good politics too, and why not? it is afterall all about a lifestyle.
Many items become highly sought after due to their limited production runs and great overall quality and attention to detail, marrying classic tailoring with modern technical fabrics. 6876 tend do things their own way, releasing what they like, as and when, which works for me.
I can't say a great deal about what to expect from the brand over the coming months, maybe we will see another release of a recent favourite and certainly more is to come from the luxury leather and luggage range R6, but I saw some interesting snippets that's for sure.
The studio is set in the splendid location of the Brunswick Centre a Grade II listed concrete modernist construction in Bloomsbury, which has undergone vast improvements over the last decade and is now a really cool place. This is not open to the public, nor is it a store, but it's an intriguing place none the less. Look out for some nice new styles in the future, including some collaborations with contemporary and classic British outdoor brands.
nice shots. I met kenneth in summer of 97 and 'interned' for them for a few days as an awed 19 year old. hes a great guy. they didnt have much for me to do and i probably just got in the way! sounds funny to say now but in those days if you saw someone wearing a piece of 6876 in london youd stop on the street and talk!
ReplyDelete