Hypebeast Community Center: Colin Meredith

Give us the elevator pitch for Colin Meredith.

I focus on interesting, utilitarian clothing that is made to be worn. The "brand" has naturally come to life through my obsession with making clothing for myself over the last 13 years. When I was finishing high school, I began sewing and discovered that I could make exactly what I wanted if I tried (and failed) for long enough. Since then, I've made hundreds of garments, attended college and technical school, and worked my way up from internships to becoming a fully-fledged designer at several brands before making the CM label.

The Colin Meredith brand now acts as the commercial arm of what I was already making for myself but with much more experience and intent than when I started. It is an ongoing response to the fashion landscape guided by my interests and relationship with craft.

The Five Ws

Who is Colin Meredith for?

Selfishly, every garment I make is motivated by my desire for it. I don't have an external "muse" for the brand I make things for. I'm making things that I feel are right or exciting, and I hope they resonate with others. I like to believe that my thinking of the brand in this way allows it to appeal to a wide range of customers.

What is Colin Meredith's main message?

It's tough to boil this down to a one-liner! If I can inspire others to create and explore craft in any form, I've contributed meaningfully. I hope that the brand can instill a feeling of possibility and curiosity.

"If I can inspire others to create and explore craft in any form, I've contributed meaningfully."

When was Colin Meredith created?

The first Colin Meredith product launched in April 2023, but as I mentioned, I've been making things for a long time before that. When I was 23, I had a small brand project called Hobby Wares, which was my personal label with a similar intention to what I'm putting out now. Back then, when people referred to my brand, I often heard them say they got a "Colin Meredith" jacket instead of a "Hobby Wares" jacket. After I saw Hobby Wares items listed on Grailed as "Colin Meredith" stuff, I realized it might be better to use my name in the future. So here we are!

Where are people wearing Colin Meredith?

Geographically, there's demand from people all over the world. FW25 will be available in stores in the UK, USA, Australia, Denmark, France, South Korea, and Japan, plus my online shop ships to most of the world.

I see a wide variety of contexts in which people wear their CM items. Sometimes, customers share photos of themselves hiking or camping in CM, while others use it in more casual settings or style pieces with luxury brand items.

Why was Colin Meredith created?

It felt like the best outlet to share my curiosity and passion for making clothes. There was a point in time when I was about 23 and struggling to network and find work to get a footing in the industry. I was discouraged and considered attending school for something besides fashion, like architecture. The first thing that came to mind when I thought about being an architect was, "What would an architect wear?" At this point, I realized that I couldn't escape my fascination with clothing and what people wear. I would be designing clothes regardless of whether or not I had a brand, so having the commercial brand allows me to focus on it.

About the Brand

You previously designed for other brands, such as Arc'teryx and Reigning Champ. What prompted you to launch your own label?

Working for other brands has been crucial for gaining experience and connections. Having my own label had always been my dream from a young age, but it didn't feel achievable for a long time. Understanding production, where to manufacture, where to source fabrics, how to make things properly, and how to pay for things were some of the challenges that discouraged me in the past. After gaining a better understanding of the landscape and building confidence, I felt the best time to try was while I was still young. I anticipated that the first several years of the brand would (and will) be full of challenges and mistakes, and it would be best to start solving those problems sooner rather than later. I'm grateful that I decided to start when I did.

How do you hope people feel when wearing Colin Meredith?

I hope people feel comfortable and fully themselves when they're wearing CM. I avoid putting large logos on things, instead focusing on developing interest from a construction or material point of view.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Colin Meredith Studio (@colin_meredith_studio)

You launched your first footwear collaboration this year, teaming up with ROA. What was that experience like? How did your worlds come together?

ROA and my brand share a similar ethos in appreciating nature and function together. I've been a fan of ROA for a long time, so when my friend Patrick Stangbye, the creative director at ROA at the time, mentioned that there might be an opportunity to collaborate, I jumped at it. We spun some initial ideas and formulated the collaborative shoe over several months. It ended up being a beautiful shoe, and the response from the market has been amazing so far.

In addition to your eponymous label, you design for Portal, an activewear brand you co-founded this year. What separates the approach of each brand?

I co-founded Portal with my friends John Roberts, Patrick Stangbye, and Barrie Bloor. It's a modern outdoor brand we began working on in 2023 and launched officially in February. We focus on making modern activewear for running, hiking, and biking. More generally, we aim to build a functional wardrobe that's authentic and useful for sport while being subtle and tasteful enough to make you feel comfortable wearing it all day.

Differentiating Portal from Colin Meredith has presented a cool opportunity as I struggled to tackle all of my interests under the CM brand. When I launched the first jacket for CM in 2023, it was on the fence between fashion and performance, and I knew that Colin Meredith, as a brand, wouldn't be performance-focused. Once we started Portal, I diverted my performance-driven design to Portal products. This has allowed me to separate the CM label from outdoor and performance and instead focus on the more conceptual themes I explored before entering the outdoor space.

If you look at my older portfolio work, you'll see that I was creating tons of items inspired by workwear, western motifs, military, etc., and sometimes taking very experimental approaches. This separation suits both brands because Portal customers want to know they're buying something authentically made for activity instead of Colin's wacky ideas. And equally, the CM customer who has followed my story will appreciate the conceptual design within the label.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Portal® (@_____portal)

You hosted a showroom during Paris Fashion Week in January. What was that experience like?

I've shown the CM line at two Paris Fashion Weeks now, and I'm preparing for the SS26 sales season that's coming up this month. I'll show the CM brand at Pitti Uomo in Florence and PFW the following week alongside Portal. As an experience, it is always wild and fun. Seeing all of the buyers and friends that come to Europe from around the world is like a big family reunion, and it's special. It's also tiring and hectic, with tons of meetings and presenting the brands from dawn to dusk. But I'm grateful that I get to attend and participate.

How would you describe your upcoming Fall/Winter 2025 range?

I did a complete overhaul for FW25, and there are only two carry-over items from previous seasons. You'll see some bold colors, more natural fabrics, and some fun silhouettes. Needless to say, I'm very stoked to share it with everyone.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Colin Meredith (@colin__meredith)

Where do you find inspiration?

It's hard not to say everywhere! I find inspiration in almost everything, but a few key themes appear the most in my work. The first is nature: the natural world constantly blows me away, and so do the solutions that nature comes up with for problems. Bird wings, the way a vine grows, patterns on fish, you name it. There's endless inspiration in nature that can inform all elements of design. The second place that often presents inspiration is the results of iteration. Abstractly, trying something and letting the results (often failure) inspire how you approach the next iteration is the core of a lot of my work.

"There's endless inspiration in nature that can inform all elements of design."

What's the biggest lesson you've learned since launching Colin Meredith?

Logistics is one of a fashion brand's most complex and expensive parts. Storing and shipping products has been one of my biggest challenges so far. They don't tell you about HS codes in fashion school!

Which Colin Meredith garment do you find yourself wearing the most?

I have nearly only worn the Welder Pants or Welder Shorts every day for the last nine months. They're perfect for me. Beyond the Welder styles, the Stirrup Insulated Jacket has been one of my best-selling items, and I wore it almost every day from October last year until March this year. I'm very excited about the three new colors launching for FW25.

What's your favorite thing that you've created with Colin Meredith so far?

This is a tough one. I've collaborated with friends to make some great graphic tees (Nick Castonguay, Lev Krag, Graham Wiebe). On the cut-and-sew side of things, although it suffers a bit from being too stretchy, my Soft Comp Shoulder Bag is a cool piece. Every style I've made has a story and interesting features, so it's hard to pick favorites.

"Opportunities come when you show the world that you can do things independently."

Do you have any advice for young designers looking to make their mark in the industry?

Make something today, and then again tomorrow, and so on. Don't wait for permission to make things via a job or opportunity. Opportunities come when you show the world that you can do things independently. If people don't notice what you made or don't like it as much as you expected, it's probably because it's bad. Try again tomorrow, and don't stop.

Prove that you can execute your vision independently before you ask a brand to believe in your taste.

Find knowledgeable people and ask them what you can do for them or find a way to be valuable. Soak up as much as you can and be grateful for the knowledge you gain.

What's next for Colin Meredith?

Big year ahead! The CM brand has some exciting new pieces and will be in a handful of new retail doors for the FW25 season. Equally, we have some exciting things planned for Portal that I can't wait to share. In the meantime, I'm training for a trail marathon!

Click here to view full gallery at Hypebeast