Tender Co.

Tender has its roots in antique workwear and machinery, especially from the Great British Steam Age. On a steam train, the tender was the truck which carried the coal and water to power the locomotive, and was coupled in between the engine and the carriages. They were built incredibly solidly, mostly from riveted cast iron, and had to hold enough fuel to take a train weighing many tons all over Britain.

Another important face of Tender’s British-made clothing is the nurture which is put into the clothes: in their research, design, manufacture, and wear. Just as a gardener tends to a vegetable patch, or a shepherd is the tender to a flock of sheep, so we hope that Tender’s owners will live with their products, wearing them hard, but respecting their provenance and the stories they have to tell.

Our British-made clothes and accessories are manufactured in small factories, ateliers, and homes around the country, exploring new approaches to traditional weaving, making, tanning, and dyeing. The Tender Stores offers a selection from the current seasonal production, as well as dead stock, repeated runs of archival designs, and one-off prototypes. We also stock Trestle Shop accessories, and other About Time projects designed by or with William Kroll.