Phillips Shirts

Custom made for Grand Designs

joanna — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 03:23:17 +0000

The man behind Grand Designs Australia, Peter Maddison, has a passion for architecture, history… and well-made shirts. Lucky for him that he stumbled upon the Phillips Shirts factory earlier this year during the Melbourne Open House program which the factory featured in.

Since then, Peter has placed four custom made shirt orders, ranging from the classic stripes to bright Liberty art prints.

We suspect he also likes to pop by for a snoop around this old factory, which was built in 1915 by John Zevenboom & Co – a now defunct brush factory (Phillips Shirts took over the building in 1958), but who are we to stand in the way between a man and his architecture?

The new season Liberty art print slim fit shirt Peter Maddison had custom made by Phillips

Peter is the ambassador for Melbourne Open House; an annual program which invites the public into unusual, architecturally significant and historical buildings across the world. Phillips Shirts was a mystery building in the program and had over 1300 visitors across one weekend.

Lookin’ Dandy at Phillips

joanna — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 13:21:17 +0000

Those fine musical folks, The Dandy Warhols, heard about the treasure of garments at Archive, a Shop by Phillips through the grapevine and popped in for a look-see ahead of their appearance at Harvest Festival

Peter, Zia and Brent (Courtney was ill, unfortunately) had a rummage through the racks of Liberty print shirts, womenswear and bow ties and the seemingly unending archive of unworn vintage stock, from Phillips’ CBD factory and warehouse.

Peter, Zia and Brent from the Dandy Warhols wearing their Phillips garments, with Matt and Audrey & Max The Pugs – friends of Phillips

A Lady Phillips ‘Sophie’ jacket in Liberty casear peacock print caught Zia’s eye and she rocked it on stage at Harvest Festival in Melbourne, later that day where all four of the Dandys put on an absolute killer show! She also chose a Lady Phillips stripe shirt with a matching Liberty tie, two Lady Phillips bow ties and a liberty bow tie with matching pocket square which her friend will be wearing to the Dandy Warhols’ Christmas dinner and show in Portland, Oregon.

Brent, who now lives in Melbourne, flexed his good taste and chose a simple stripe Phillips Vintage shirt and two bow ties, and Peter selected a short sleeved Phillips Vintage shirt in blue and white spot that had been hanging on ‘Eric’, the quirky old hanger that takes pride of place at Archive, a Shop by Phillips.

Shirt and bow ties, chosen by The Dandy Warhols

Zia on stage at Harvest Festival wearing the Lady Phillips ‘Sophie’ jacket. Photo: www.katiefairservice.net.au

Bow ties & collars: an outfit’s best friend

joanna — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 12:43:58 +0000

Lady Phillips is a clever gal who knows how to add a little je ne sais quoi to an outfit; be it a pretty spring accessory for the girls or a dapper, daring summer look for the boys.

Lady Phillips Peter Pan collar and Phillips Vintage stripe tshirt available online and in store at Archive, a Shop by Phillips

These colourful bow ties, collar necklaces and Peter Pan collars are just itching be mixed and matched and contrasted and clashed.

Made from the archive of delicious vintage fabrics in the Phillips factory in Melbourne’s Little Lonsdale Street, these fabric gems are available online and in store at Archive, a Shop by Phillips.

Lady Phillips bow tie and shirt available online and in store at Archive, a Shop by Phillips

Lady Phillips bow tie and Phillips Vintage zip front terry towelling jacket available online and in store at Archive, a Shop by Phillips

Lady Phillips bow ties, collar necklaces and Peter Pan collars available online and in store at Archive, a Shop by Phillips

British India rock Phillips shirts

joanna — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 07:51:41 +0000

Aussie indie darlings, British India, had a rummage through the racks of new and vintage stock at Phillips on a recent photo at Phillips’ factory and warehouse with photographer Kane Hibberd.

The lads, whose latest single ‘I Can Make You Love Me’ is out now, selected a few garments to wear, then lounged around like rockers in front of the camera for the rest of the day. Here’s a sneaky photo from the day.

Nic, Declan, Matt & Will wearing Phillips Shirts and Phillips Vintage

The shoot at Phillips’ factory and warehouse came just before the band’s Australian tour kicked off, with fans keeping them under lock and key at various venues across the country until the end of the year.

Melbourne based photographer Kane is well known in the Australian rock ‘n’ roll circuit, having shot the likes of Temper Trap, Missy Higgins and Dave Grohl. He was a joy to have around and the heavy metal doors of our Little Lonsdale Street home are open to him again anytime.

Phillips’ Little Lonsdale Street factory and warehouse has been the industrial, cardboard-box-peppered backdrop of many a photo shoot, but this one was most definitely one of the best, not least because the lads were a pleasant bunch who quite frankly wear their Phillips shirts well.

British India made in Melbourne since 2004: Phillips Shirts made in Melbourne since 1952

Watch the clip for their single ‘I Can Make You Love Me’ here:

What they wore L-R

Nic Wilson – Ponti Check Stud Shirt – This colour is available exclusively in store, other colours available online

Declan Melia – Liberty Brown / Pink / Red Floral – available in store and online

Matt O’Gorman – Tartan Shirt – Phillips Vintage, available in store

Will Drummond – Liberty Paisley – Available in store and online

Clothing available at Archive, a Shop by Phillips, Second Floor, 274 Lt Lonsdale Street, Melbourne.

Phillips has Grand Designs for TV stars

joanna — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 09:38:00 +0000

Peter Maddison from Grand Designs Australia and his UK counterpart Kevin McCloud had a private tour of the Phillips factory before ordering custom made shirts ahead of a special Grand Designs event in Melbourne and Sydney

Peter fell in love with the Phillips factory when he visited it as the ambassador for the hugely popular Melbourne Open House 2012 event our building was part of.

He asked if he could show his good friend and ‘partner in design’ Kevin around, so we gave them the grand tour, including how to use the button machine, which is a minefield of 70s German machinery, usually only handled by the master of buttons, Dianne.

Kevin McCloud from Grand Designs UK and Peter Maddison from the Australian show were fascinated by the urban industrial innards of the Phillips Shirts Melbourne factory and warehouse.

After much marveling at the quirky design features of our Little Lonsdale Street factory and warehouse, both design-loving gents picked out fabrics from our immense range of vintage and contemporary fabrics from European shores for their custom made shirts.

Kevin McCloud and Peter Maddison ordered custom made shirts from Phillips Shirts which have been made in Melbourne since 1952. They met with factory owner Andrew and chose from the huge range of European fabric

The Grand Designs Live event sold 30,000 tickets, so we’re glad we smartened the boys up with some Melbourne-made Phillips shirts.

Kevin also name-checked Phillips in an interview with Grand Designs Live which we’re quietly delighted about. Check out his interview on this video link here.

Kevin McCloud talks about Phillips Shirts in a Grand Designs Live interview in Melbourne.

The Etsy Blog: A Second Act for Phillips Shirts

emmac — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 09:20:54 +0000

A big thank you to Carolyn Fraser for her piece about Phillips Shirts on the wonderful Etsy Blog.

A Second Act for Phillips Shirts

Story by Carolyn FraserPublished on Sept 18, 2012 in Read Photo by Phillips Shirts

The story behind Phillips Shirts is a familiar one. In 1954, two newly arrived Czech immigrants – Alex Peterfreund and Philip Phillips – began small. They made men’s dress shirts at home, storing bolts of fabric behind the couch and making sales calls that stretched their limited English. In 1958, the company moved to a three-storey factory at 274 Little Lonsdale Street. At the height of their business in the late 1960s/early 1970s, they employed 80 machinists, 2 cutters and 4 pressers. Phillips Shirts supplied clients all over Australia and were known for their superior craftsmanship.

Phillips Shirts

Carolyn Fraser

In the post-war period, self-made men like Alex and Phillip could be found in garment manufacturing districts in major cities all around the world. These men and the manufacturing empires they founded are now mostly gone, and with accelerating speed, Phillips Shirts’ familiar rags-to-riches story has veered into unknown territory. Today, Alex’s son Andrew Peterfreund oversees a company of nine machinists, three pressers and one cutter. As markets shrink, the once-large company finds itself small again. How is it possible to compete in a market flooded with cheap imports? How can they hold on? Is it even desirable to do so?

Emma Clarke thinks the answer is yes. Employed in 2007 as a bookkeeper, Emma is the visionary behind a bold attempt to reinvigorate the business. Her secret weapons are Phillips’ enormous repository of fabrics, a skilled workforce, and a floor full of vintage dead stock. The challenge lies in scaling back the large-scale manufacturing plant so that it can nimbly respond to the demands of niche markets, while at the same time servicing the overheads of once-large business. It’s both a huge opportunity and a millstone.

Phillips Shirts

Carolyn Fraser

At the rear of the factory floor are the fabric storerooms, bolts of fabrics stacked ceiling high, many with original tags indicating their provenance. Emma is slowly inventorying this stock, culling the best pieces for Archive, the shop she’s opened in former showrooms at the front of the building. From the early 1960s, Phillips Shirts were produced in Liberty of London’s fine cotton lawn, and these colourful fabrics feature both in the cushions Emma has designed for Phillips’ homewares range and in Phillips’ bespoke shirts. Despite thousands of rolls of fabric waiting in store, Emma is visibly pained when a roll of a particularly loved cloth is used up – fabrics like these are no longer made.

Phillips Shirts

Phillips’ new home line, which uses dead stock materials.

Phillips Shirts

Today, Phillips Shirts is in production three days a week. It’s worth noting that although Emma has fashion sense and financial know-how, she doesn’t sew. Machinist Rosa Salvo celebrated 41 years at Phillips this month. Markar Arzumanian, the cutter, has worked at Phillips for 30 years. Emma relies on “the ladies” (and Markar) to bring her ideas to fruition. In recent times, they’ve made small runs of aprons and hairdressing capes. They make bowties. On the day I visit, they’re making a dozen-plus shirts on short notice for a television commercial. There’s argument about which shirts were theirs in a mini-series broadcast on television that week. Not surprisingly, costume designers love Phillips Shirts.

Phillips Shirts

“My dream,” Emma says, “would be to crank this place back up to five days a week. And I think it will happen, we’ve just got to hold on. I’ve got to wrap my head around, who are the right people to let know about us?” She and Joanna, a part-time marketing contractor, have established a presence for Phillips Shirts on the web and social media. When they opened the factory doors for Open House Melbourne, they were inundated with visitors. However, nostalgia doesn’t pay the bills. It is true that consumers are often fierce in their desire for old things while neglecting to financially support this existence. Emma’s hope is that they’ll soon be making 50 custom shirts a week. She and Joanna are pressuring Andrew for a marketing budget. They believe in Phillips Shirts’ potential, but know that time may run out. “This is it,” Emma says. “This is the make or break year.”

Carolyn Fraser is a writer and letterpress printer in Melbourne, Australia. She is a regular contributor to UPPERCASE Magazine. She can be found on Twitter as @girlprinter.

Discuss: 72 comments

Peppermint Magazine Spring ’12: Phillips Shirts feature story

emmac — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 09:10:01 +0000

Look out for the latest issue of Peppermint Magazine, you might find a little story about the Phillips Shirts factory in it. Ooooh, we’re feeling the love!

You can get your copy of Peppermint online, in stores or follow them on Facebook

A timelapse showcasing Phillips Shirts

emmac — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 09:16:17 +0000

Nicole Sultana spent the day at the Phillips Shirts factory to witness our craftspeople making a shirt from start to finish. She captured the whole thing on camera, the sneaky thing that she is! Take a look here at this lovely timelapse of what she saw that day. Doesn’t the button machine look brilliant?

Melbourne Open House Photography Competition Winner

emmac — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 09:09:07 +0000

The Melbourne Open House photography competition winners have been announced and we’re thrilled that the winner of the Interior category, Jonathan White, submitted a shot of the Phillips Shirt factory. Judges said:”The winner of this category has showed a deft touch at describing the nature of this particular interior with one shot. The composition is lovely and the mood is spot on!

See all winners online at Melbourne Open House

"The winner of this category has showed a deft touch at describing the nature of this particular interior with one shot. The composition is lovely and the mood is spot on!

See all winners here: http://www.openhousemelbourne.org/program/photography-competition-winners" width="843" height="403" />

Broadsheet Melbourne hearts the Phillips factory

joanna — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 12:42:57 +0000

Those marvellous people in the know, Broadsheet Melbourne, came to Phillips for a sticky-beak – in the nicest possible way of course – to find out what all the hoo-ha is about our hidden and humble factory.

Most people who walk through the factory doors are instantly intrigued; after all, with very few factories left in Melbourne and indeed Australia, it’s an interesting sight to see.

We’ve been fortunate to have been blogged and Facebooked and Flickr’d and featured in recent months, but we were a little extra gleeful that Broadsheet Melbourne noticed us too.

Here’s the full article or read it online here:

Hidden in the heart of the ever-transforming Melbourne CBD, a sole surviving shirt factory whirs quietly on, its inner workings virtually unchanged since the 1960s. Barely signed, the Little Lonsdale Street factory is located opposite 1000 Pound Bend, but its vintage-wearing, latte-sipping patrons are mostly oblivious to the untapped goldmine just across the street.

Phillips Shirts is practically groaning under the weight of its own history. Hundreds of reels of vintage fabrics are stacked under hundreds and hundreds more in a brightly coloured kaleidoscope, an image that echoes shelf after shelf and towerd right up to the high factory ceilings. At first look, it seems like the life work of a compulsive hoarder. But on closer inspection, a sense of order slowly becomes apparent. On one wall, all of the fabrics are striped; another is all checks; another patterned prints; then simple block colours. As your eyes adjust to the sheer mass of it all, you notice that barely two rolls of fabric are the same. Each reel was carefully purchased and set aside for the day its specific purpose would arrive. This has been the way here for five decades. Crumpled paper tags scrawled with handwritten order notes and faded red stamps reveal their country of origin. Switzerland. France. Italy. West Germany.

A step back in time, the factory is a rare living relic of Melbourne’s booming rag trade of the 1950s and 60s, an industry that allowed many post-war European immigrants to flourish in their new homeland and one that eventually contributed to the city’s entrenched fashion culture.

Phillips Shirts is a classic immigrant story. Two Jewish Czechoslovakian migrants, Philip Phillips and Alex Peterfreund, built the business from the ground up with limited English, boundless determination and plenty of elbow grease. In 1952, the two friends started out cutting shirts on their apartment floor and as the orders stacked up they committed themselves to working 18-hour days for the next seven years. They bought the Little Lonsdale space in 1958, where the shirts are still manufactured today. Both the original owners have since passed away, but its clear their legacy lives on.

Inside the cavernous factory, the hum of sewing machines competes with the crackle of a radio that needs tuning. Fluorescent lights hang over the worktables at odd angles. The wooden floors are scuffed and littered with peels of fabric cuttings and wandering thread. Buttons have fallen between the cracks of the wood. Here we find Markar and Rosa.

Markar’s grey hair flops into his glasses as he concentrates on his chalk lines, carefully marking out the sections of the shirt. The white powder stains his fingers. He has been doing things exactly the same way as when he started working at Phillips Shirts 30 years ago, drawing and cutting stencils all by hand back then too.

Although she feels comfortable behind her sewing machine, Rosa is shy to have her photo taken, worried that her picture won’t come out right. She started working here as an eager 15-year-old, making tea and cleaning tables for two years until she was finally allowed to get on the machines and learn sewing. Forty-one years later, Rosa is now head machinist at the same factory. She’s sewn shirts here the same way for decades, as the city transformed outside her window.

The factory and its workers exist in their own undisturbed bubble, but the increasing pressures of the economy and foreign competition can’t be ignored forever. It’s a deep sense of loyalty that has kept the factory going all these years – from the persistence of the owners, to the devotion of its workers and a simple dedication to the way that things have always been done.

Fortunately for us, what remains today is an absolute treasure trove of unworn designer shirts leftover from decades past. There’s hours of fun to be had with the dizzying display of psychedelic paisley, Hawaiian florals andAustin Powers-style ruffled shirts.

And as if we weren’t already like kids in a candy store, the factory has just started offering a customised shirt service, allowing you to choose your own design and material from the enormous vintage archive.

The factory is a bizarre time-slip in the centre of our CBD, but it’s living proof that local, quality manufacturing in Melbourne still has a heartbeat, and hopefully, a future.

Phillips Shirts
274 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne

Hours
Wed to Sat 10.30am–3.30pm

phillipsshirts.com.au