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Ümbe Apparel

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06Garment design
Graphics
Product development

A clothing collection under the studio name: silhouettes, graphics, trims and the specification behind them.

Role
Self-directed. Design, graphics, colour, trims and specification.
Status
Owned · Design development
An oversized zip hoodie in cobalt blue with wide black horizontal stripes, shown flat.
Striped zip hoodie
A washed charcoal twill trouser with a single front pleat and a very wide leg.
Pleated twill pant
Washed blue jeans shown front and back, with turned selvedge cuffs, a cinch strap and a leather patch at the waistband.
Denim, front and back
A distressed cream long-sleeve tee printed with a dark red engraved floral oval, ÜMBE STUDIO curved above it and a small Ü below.
Floral long sleeve
A hand-crocheted beanie in cream with cobalt blue stripes and a woven Ü tab at the hem.
Crochet beanie

Printed jersey, knitwear, denim, tailored shorts and underwear, held together by one blue.

Direction

One blue, one cream, and a mark small enough to miss.

A single cobalt runs through the knit stripes, the jersey prints, the crochet and the cardholder lining. Everything else is cream, bone, charcoal or washed indigo. Branding sits where a laundry tag sits: a woven tab at a hem, a blind deboss on leather, a jacquard waistband you only read inside out.

The two printed pieces argue on purpose. One is athletic and blunt, condensed capitals across the chest. The other is an engraved botanical oval, closer to a seed packet than to sportswear. Both are Ümbe; the range between them is the point.

The chest print close up: JAPAN TRAIL ’83 in blue condensed capitals over Ümbe Studio in italic, printed on pale heather slub jersey that has been distressed.
Chest print
A close-up of the same jersey along a seam, showing the slub texture and a small worn hole.
Slub jersey, worn

The blunt piece is a heather slub jersey, distressed, with the print sitting high and wide on the chest. The wear is drawn in: the holes and the collar are part of the specification, not damage.

Long pleated shorts in a brown and cobalt check, with a small embroidered Ümbe wordmark at the hem.
Plaid long short. The cobalt returns as one thread in the check.
Long pleated shorts in a soft grey and white shadow check.
Shadow check. Same block, quieter cloth.
A charcoal cotton boxer short with a tonal jacquard waistband reading Ümbe.
Boxer, charcoal. Name woven into the waistband, tonal.
A cream cotton boxer short with a woven Ümbe waistband.
Boxer, cream. The same waistband, read light on light.
The boxer waistband across its full width: Ümbe woven tonally into the charcoal elastic four times over, readable only where the light catches it.
The waistband. Woven tonally, four times across.
The printed tee on a hanger against a black wall, showing the full garment and its shorter, boxier cut.
Japan Trail tee. Shorter body, wider shoulder, worn-in collar.

Identity

The same drawing, in six materials.

Ü is the hardware mark: two dots over a U, one stroke weight, drawn to hold at the size of a zip pull. It is debossed into leather, woven on a tab and a label, jacquarded into elastic and struck into a cast disc, each at the size it is made.

The Ümbe Ü mark as drawn: a wide U with two circular dots above it, in a single fine weight.
As drawn
The Ü blind-debossed into black leather, catching the light only at the edge of the stroke.
Blind deboss, leather
A woven silver label reading ümbe, stitched onto the cobalt lining inside the cardholder.
Woven label, cobalt lining
A small grey woven tab carrying the Ü, stitched into the hem of the cream and cobalt crochet beanie.
Woven tab, crochet hem
An oxblood leather patch debossed ümbe, stitched at the back waistband of the charcoal twill pant.
Debossed patch, twill
A cast bronze disc with ÜMBE curved across the top and STUDIO across the bottom, struck into the metal around a central rivet.
Struck, cast bronze

Specification

Every piece was taken to a specification board.

Front and back, technical flats, trims, labels, construction notes and packaging, on one sheet. The board below is the basketball short.

A specification board on a dark ground: the basketball short photographed front and back at the top, then a row of detail panels covering the front logo, a side flag, the interior label, the drawcord and the fabric, with columns of written notes below for material, construction, fit and packaging, and small technical flats of the front and back.
Development board

A development document. The sampling round runs against this sheet.

Collection

Six colours, and a name that never crosses a chest.

The palette is short on purpose, so a crochet stripe, a check thread and a jersey print read as one collection. The name is always small, and nothing is embroidered across a chest.

Current state

Eleven pieces, one palette, one mark in six materials, specified to board level. Sampling is the next step.

The studio behind it · 02 Ümbe Studio