What Oliver Church is known for
Paris-based maker using vintage, antique and reclaimed fabrics from around France. Each part of the shirtmaking process passes through his hands. One-piece collar available on custom request.
Oliver Church is a New Zealand-born designer who relocated to Paris in early 2018 and builds every garment himself, from cutting and sewing through hand embroidery and dyeing, using antique and vintage French fabrics rather than newly milled cloth. His material comes from deadstock linens and cottons found initially at Paris flea markets and later through relationships built with rural French dealers and brocanteurs, with individual textiles often dating 50 to 120 years old. Because these fabrics survive only in small, irregular lots, rarely a full bolt, no two Oliver Church shirts or jackets are alike, and the maker has described the resulting one-of-one production as central to the work rather than an incidental limitation. His shirts are built with a one-piece collar available on request, a construction detail associated with pre-industrial shirtmaking that requires more exacting pattern work than a standard two-piece collar. Coverage including Highsnobiety has framed Church's practice as a rejection of repeatable, scalable fashion production in favor of garments treated closer to restored objects than manufactured stock, sold through a small network of specialist stockists rather than a brand-owned store.
How ORBIS reads this city
Best for — Slow, meticulous organic-looking shirts
Made in France
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Where next
- Criquet Shirts — Austin
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Hand-curated for ORBIS · no paid placement