Our Story
A heritage outfitter dreamed up by someone who wasn't around for the heritage.
Byne is the brainchild of Charles Grimshaw — who is eleven, and who loves two things above all: design, and old clothing. The old suits and proper jumpers people used to make when they expected them to last, and the care that went into designing them. Where most children his age chase whatever is new, Charles kept sketching what he wished he could wear: a good V‑neck, a jacket with brass buttons, and a top‑hatted little bird to put his name to it.
That bird — the fellow in the top hat — came first, before there was anything to sell. He arrived complete with his hat and his air of quiet importance, and he became the emblem of the whole idea. The clothes followed the drawing, rather than the other way around.
So Byne isn't an old house pretending to be modern. It's a young designer who fell for old clothing and decided to make some. Lambswool knitwear. Properly cut jackets. Nothing loud. Everything designed the way Charles thinks it ought to be — to be handed down rather than thrown away.
What we fuss over
The weight of the wool. The set of a shoulder. The exact depth of a V so it flatters a shirt collar without drawing attention to itself. These are small things. Small things are the whole of it.
Charles draws the top‑hatted bird — hat and all — long before there's anything to sell. The emblem comes before the brand.
The sketchbook fills with jumpers and jackets — the old clothing an eleven‑year‑old with a love of design actually wants to wear.
Claret and racing green are chosen as the house colours — old‑school, understated, and easy to trim a cricket jumper with.
Everything is meant to last. Any Byne piece can be sent home to be mended, for free, for as long as you own it.
Byne is here — traditionally minded, rarely serious, and run by someone who still has homework.