Culture Shift
Summary
What if the most affordable uniform is also the most expensive?
UK local authorities already pay £73 million a year disposing of textiles, including disposable and workwear that end up in general waste. WRAP projects that could reach £200 million by 2035. Uniform sits inside that stream. Most organisations still buy the cheapest option available. It wears out faster, so they buy it again sooner — and every worn-out uniform still has to be disposed of.
Audit
With tens of thousands of working garments in circulation (UK), consider where your uniform system may be undermining sustainability claims, exposing operational inefficiencies, or falling short of the safety, ethical, and reporting standards that apply to the client's sector. The process reviews the existing system, evaluates sourcing documentation, and interviews relevant staff and suppliers.
A bespoke illustrated report — key risks, insights, and upgrade opportunities — can be delivered within days of a single or chain on-site visits. Findings belong to the client, who are free to act on them independently, by competitive tender, or in partnership with this studio.
An independent audit often suits ahead of a procurement review, investor due diligence, or environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting.
Replacement
When an existing uniform no longer serves sustainability, brand, or operational needs, ABCDEFGHUMAN works with the client to design out the problem — testing textiles, patterns, and construction against durability, comfort, and care requirements before either party commits. Suitable production partners are then identified together.
Every stage is phased to avoid service disruption, with production manuals and user records kept for transparency and traceability throughout.
Case Study
The Arts Club, Dover Street, London
Summary
Founded in 1863 by Charles Dickens, Anthony Trollope, and Lord Leighton, The Arts Club nearly closed in the years before 2011, when a full renovation relaunched it as a deliberate hybrid — a heritage institution rebuilt around contemporary art, live music, and hospitality. The Georgian townhouse on Dover Street runs across multiple floors: a basement music venue, a curated contemporary art collection overseen by Wedel Art, several restaurants and bars, and rooms and suites across the top two floors.
ABCDEFGHUMAN designed and produced uniforms across the club's departments: double-breasted 100% wool super-lightweight jackets, tailored to men's and women's cuts, for club floor staff; hand-made dresses in a blend of Japanese silk and cotton for Kyubi; hand-painted cotton shirts, each carrying a unique linear design; and natural-fibre uniforms for door staff and housekeeping. No synthetic fibre was used across any garment.
Every design was reviewed in person by the club's leadership — sometimes ownership, sometimes operations directors, sometimes procurement, occasionally housekeeping itself — with fittings held at both the studio and the club. Natural-fibre textiles routinely took longer to source and produce than synthetic equivalents, and factory delays sometimes ran past the client's own timeline. That friction was typical of working in natural fibre at the time, not a failure specific to this project — sourcing responsibly and sourcing quickly were, and often still are, in tension.
Outcome
The collaboration demonstrates that good design and the production of natural-fibre uniform systems at this scale, set the standard an important heritage institution demands. The Arts Club reordered for four consecutive years — signing off with uniform design fully operational post-covid.
