Founded in Perth by two ex-architects in 2017, Cleverly Laundry (formerly known by the much soberer sobriquet of Cleverly Textiles) aims to be the first and last word in premium loungewear – a mission that the brand has achieved some measure of success in to date.
Initially rising to prominence for engineering the “smartest towel in the room,” co-founders Roshana Lewis and Amelia McPhee have since expanded their line-up of products, after seven years under the microscope with British luxury e-tailer Mr Porter.
Since then, the company has become a cult favourite of fashion editors and, subsequently, celebrity A-Listers around the globe – all off the back of a chance feature in W Magazine, on the person of Scandinavian sex symbol Alexander Skarsgård.
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Now (following a multi-million-dollar capital injection) the label has undergone something of a soft rebrand: one that encompasses a swish new webstore, original photography and the same curated edit of products that Lewis and McPhee have put through consecutive years of rigorous testing.
Driven by “old-school legacy ideas” about the fundamental importance of building a best-in-class product, the foundation of Cleverly Laundry is still grounded in bedding, table linen and towels. The latter category – which, initially, required four years of R&D – is awash in the sort of small, relentlessly scrutinised details you’d expect of two former architects.
Made in Portugal from extremely long loops of superfine cotton terry, each Cleverly towel (regardless of its size) bears a resemblance to a hand-made pocket square – as opposed to the generic cloth bundles you’ll find at Bed Bath N’Whatever. Corners, for instance, are mitred: meaning each end of the cloth is joined with a flat folded seam – a more durable, symmetrically pleasing way to make towels.
Fortunately for shoppers, this best-selling textile offering laid the groundwork for exploring other offerings that fit neatly into a universe of leisure, long lunches and time spent lounging around at home. It was perhaps somewhat inevitable then that Cleverly Laundry would eventually launch a range of shirts and pants: made from the same OEKO-TEX certified cotton fabrics in the Portuguese factories that produce the brand’s bedding, towels and selection of kitchen cloth.
For a real “tell me you’re a suit guy, without telling me” aesthetic, reaching for a pair of the drawstring shorts ($118) and the corresponding colour of pyjama-inspired shirt ($140) is a move that will come naturally – and not just because the get-up is favoured by louche style editors and professional handsome dudes à la Ryan Reynolds.
