About us
About us
Heya 👋
I'm Ali (on the left), founder of Labo Mono. Nice to meet you :)
We're based in Hackney, London, and on a mission to encourage Adventure, big or small, without ruining the planet 🌍
And we do this by making clothes that let you do more.
Bold, innovative & eco-minded apparel built for cities and life's Adventures.
How it started
In summer 2018, I was cycling home when I got caught in a rainstorm. I only had one of those thin windbreakers on me and was drenched by the time I arrived.
While still dripping wet, I immediately (and angrily) started to look online for a proper rain jacket.
That's when I realised that most outerwear jackets are mainly designed for the great outdoors, not the everyday life. And, let's be honest, they all looked very boring.
(At least if you're like me and like bolder colours).
Living in a city sometimes means jumping from a bike to a bus, walking your dog in the rain, or chilling in a beer garden. All in the same day.
I needed a jacket that would take that into consideration.
And besides some great names, most outerwear brand were very opaque on their environmental impact, and choice of materials.
So, being a designer by trade, I decided to look into it, and design my ideal rain jacket.
Designed with an urban approach and made with more sustainable materials.
I shared the idea around me, and after a year of sketches, prototypes, user tests and feedback, I presented the project on Kickstarter, which was successfully funded 3 days later 🎉.
Labo Mono was born.
Our aim is to create pieces of clothing that aren’t just pleasant to look at, but also cleverly functional and durable.
All that while using sustainable materials, produced ethically.
Ali Namdari - Founder & Designer
Ethically produced
It is important for us to be transparent about our different process, and especially the manufacturing one.
I screened many factories before committing to our current partner.
Main criteria: quality, social responsibility, sustainability and price.
And to make sure we work with the right people, I packed my suitcase and went out to visit them personally.
You can read more about all this process and discover our factory right here.
A modern and well advanced technical garment factory that share our commitment to ethical manufacturing.
The very skilled and super friendly employees are all working in a clean, safe and regulated environment.
If you'd like to learn more, I share everything from our last visit on our Blog, in this article here.
The difficult months searching for the right factory have paid off!
