Culling IL

HENRY JAY HARLEY TELLS US ABOUT HIS FAMILY BUSINESS, WHICH HAS BEEN SELLING FABRICS SINCE THE ’80S

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What is The Cloth Shop?

My dad started it 37 years ago, and we’ve been in our premises on the Portobello Road for 27. In the early 1980s he supplied dress fabrics, as more people made their own clothes then and there was a much bigger market for fashion textiles. This died down a little in the 1990s, so we moved into furnishing fabrics. The shop has evolved to include lots of other beautiful and unique items.

What makes it tick?

 We’ve developed a reputation for our wide range of linens – we offer 54 colours. We also sell our washed linen, which comes in a wide variety of options, too. We stock natural fabrics, mainly wools and cottons as well as the linens, and we’re always trying to add new and interesting fabrics and homeware items to our core range. We source and produce our fabrics all over the world, and try to be as ethical about it as possible. We have moved into environmentally friendly fabrics, producing a lot of organic textiles. One mill we work with is completely carbon-neutral. It only uses natural dyes and any waste is used for fertiliser. It’s impressive.