Bikes, Boats, and Vespas: The Commonwealth Collection

When we opened The Ledbury Workshop, we knew it was our chance to truly get our hands dirty, roll up our sleeves (literally and figuratively), and learn more about the craft of custom shirtmaking. It’s a rare opportunity to gain knowledge on a centuries old trade and a challenge to do something analog in a tech-obsessed world, but it’s one that we were eager to embrace. To commemorate our first official collection crafted in our West End workshop, we were inspired by our favorite old and new-school styles for navigating the world. As you may have gathered, we have a thing for boating, and The Bearing features a repeat vivid blue and white sailboat pattern that conjures up salty days at sea and is suitable for everything from hoisting the jib to just daydreaming about it. The Commonwealth Collection is a collection of Virginia-made ready-to-wear shirts that will be available for purchase online and custom-made from start to finish in our West End workshop by our Master Patternmaker Jose Abel Diaz. The debut collection is a trio of printed shirts, including a poplin featuring a bicycle print. Called The Rider, this style was inspired by both the UCI Road World Championships and Richmond's very-own rich cycling culture. We collaborated with Brooklyn studio Abby Lichtman Design on this custom, watercolored navy and gray bike print, which was then printed in Italy on poplin cotton. We spoke with Lichtman about the process of integrating hand-drawn designs with textiles: “We focus on the handmade mark, because we believe there is something sacred to this - as opposed to popping something out on Illustrator. There is something unique about the way each artist and each drop of paint will always land just slightly differently on the paper - it is something we are fascinated with.” The Rider Shirt as well as The Moto, with a print that is homage to the iconic Italian scooter ("Not just a scooter, a way of life") will be available for purchase at $185 each and require up to three weeks for production. We're truly thrilled to start producing our shirts in Virginia under our own roof and we hope you feel the same way. Shop the Commonwealth Collection now.