British Genevieve Dress

Cawley makes thoughtful and considered clothing, designed in a light-filled South London studio. Long window sills hold treasured objects that speak to the essentials of form, shape and texture. Rituals of sharing and gathering punctuate the day and allow the small team to exchange ideas, form community, and rely on one another. Everything happens here, and all of it is important.

Born out of Hannah Cawley’s bedroom in 2017, Cawley holds the legacy of a family who create with their hands. Hannah and her mum Wendy learnt to hand-smock together, using craft as a way to bring time-honoured practices of making into the present, to span the distance between the historical and contemporary. This love of creating by hand, and a commitment to traditional British textile processes, are central to the ethos of the label. Cawley is about the quality of making, the integrity of craftsmanship.

The design process is informed by an unending search for inspiration; books, vintage markets, and historical textiles. Core shapes and silhouettes recur throughout the collection, the archive of the label grows to become another source of inspiration, a past to revel in and reinvent. This is beautiful and functional clothing, enlivened by the bodies that wear it. It is for the occasional and the everyday.

Craftsmanship is everything, manufacturing is local, and a natural and sustainable approach has been at the heart of the label since its inception. Every piece of clothing is hand-cut and made in England. Cawley seeks out the finest natural materials and celebrates them, and works with gifted craftspeople with their own unique traditions of making, incorporating those histories into the story of the label. Working relationships with makers are nurtured and sustained through patience, gratitude, and a shared commitment to process and excellence. Everyone grows and develops together; good things take time.

Cawley makes things to be lived in, loved and worn over a lifetime.

The Genevieve dress is a loose fitting style, we would recommend your usual size.