Seasalt Clothing is a well-known brand in most households. It’s also probably pretty well-known that the brand’s roots are firmly planted in Cornwall. But, we wanted to look a bit deeper - to look back at their history and to turn to their landscape to understand what underpins their ethos and inspires their collections of coats, jumpers.  dresses, tops, trousers and socks that our customers have come to love.  

The story of Seasalt can be traced back to 1981 when the Chadwick family went into a little shop in Adelaide Street, Penzance. The shop was called General Clothing and served the local working community of sailors, farmers and fishermen. The offering was practical - fishermen's smocks, Guernsey pullovers and stripey tops.

 

The original General Clothing Shop (above)

Amazingly the Chadwick family had only gone into the shop to buy some waterproof coats, but the father of the Chadwick family, Don, ended up buying the shop too. Don, and his three sons ran the shop together. In 2001 when Don sadly passed away the three brothers decided to launch their own clothing brand inspired by their love of the Cornish landscape – Seasalt was born. Proud to run one of Cornwall’s largest retailers the Chadwick brothers (Leigh, David and Neil) still embrace a hands-on approach to running Seasalt to this day.  

The Chadwick brothers, Leigh, David and Neil (above)

It’s interesting to note that the early influences of useful, traditional clothing from the original General Stores shop still very much inspires Seasalt’s current collections. In fact, the original yellow raincoat the Chadwicks bought that day in 1981 is kept as a constant source of inspiration. Today, you only need to look to pieces such as the classic style of Seasalt coats  or the classic Sailor Shirt to see this influence in Seasalt's design philosophy. But also, central to their identity, is creating collections that are beautiful and distinctive, inspired by the Cornish landscape. Nothing epitomises this more than their handcrafted prints. This focus on creating unique prints can perhaps be most credited to Sophie Chadiwck, Neil’s wife. Sophie is a print designer and has a love for textiles and prints, and as such has ensured that the crafting of all Seasalt's collections are underpinned by an artistic, considered approach.  

 

Sophie Chadwick (above)

Made in-house by their team of print designers the Seasalt prints are expressions of a feeling, a colour, or an element either cultural or natural from their Cornish surroundings that becomes a visual shorthand for the season. Using pencil sketches, watercolour brushstrokes, linocut stamps and more the designs can vary from dynamic abstracts to more traditional style floral prints. 

One of the best examples of their prints can be found within the Seasalt tops range, with the bestselling Larissa shirt  a style that perfectly embodies Seasalt’s approach to practical but beautiful fashion. Cut to a comfortable fit, the Larissa shirts requires no ironing, just wash then twist when still damp so the shirt keeps its crinkle style.  

 

Another example of the beautiful prints we look forward to seeing every collection is in the Seasalt dresses. Always cut to an elegant fit, the prints on these dresses perfectly express the feeling of the season.  

 

When it comes to understanding Seasalt’s ethos it would be remiss not to mention their commitment to sustainability. Seasalt really are trailblazers in the sustainable fashion world, have a read of our blog on their approach to sustainability to learn more.  

Discovering Seasalt's origins and ongoing design influences has been refreshing in an industry that can too often be clouded by fast fashion. So, how would we summarise Seasalt’s offering? Well, practical, beautiful and sustainable seem perhaps the most apt words.  We hope you’ve enjoyed finding out a little more about them with us and we look forward to sharing their collections with you for years to come.  

Clementine Barrett