Settlers Stores has opened a tailors, drapers and general outfitters on Cheap Street with a range of tweed outerwear, denim workwear and Dutch wax cotton dresses.
Designed for everyday adventurers, the range of artisan tweed clothing is made, sustainably, in the UK, for people who love living outdoors but don’t want to compromise style for function. “Our clothes are designed to be worn wherever the fancy takes you – from hillside to city pavement, from festival at dawn to dog walk in the rain.”
Settlers Stores work with small mills in Scotland who weave bespoke tweeds for them, they line all their pieces in vibrant prints of Dutch wax cotton and customers can create their own bespoke combinations from the wide library of fabrics in the upstairs studio. Each piece of tweed clothing is finished by hand and designed to last a lifetime.
The tweeds and Dutch wax will be available by the length, as well as a range of handpicked treasures and travel accessories, from Africa and Europe, designed for a life well travelled and which complement the life under canvas that inspired the clothing.
The Settlers in question are Zara d’Abo and Nathalie Sergent, who met in Africa nearly 20 years ago and a love of African style and cultures underpins much of their work.
“In these days of mass migration, we are all settlers from somewhere and our work is both a celebration of cultural fusion and diversity and an appreciation of artisan craftsmanship at home and abroad,” they explained.
It is fitting that the grade 2 listed shop is situated on Cheap Street in the heart of Frome’s conservation area – most of which was built between the 15th – 18th centuries, at a time when the town’s not insignificant wealth and importance was based on the wool trade and weaving industry.
“People buy our clothes because they know they will have them forever,” says Zara d’Abo. ‘Tweed is such an incredible fabric – breathable, waterproof, warm and in a beautiful palette of rich colours – it deserves to be worn by everyone.”