Archie

From New York, USA
Founded in 2018

Archie was founded in 2018 by Mark Smith Clarke. A self-taught pattern maker, Mark took what was an after-hours hobby into something more by developing the beginnings of a new collection. The collection is made entirely in New York City using fabrics from various mills in Japan. Mark makes each pattern in his studio, sources the fabrics, trims, finishing, and photographs each season’s lookbook (his original attraction to clothing). He tries to construct very personal details into the garments or the collections as a whole and he says his approach to clothing making can be culturally akin to a Robert Adams quote from ‘Why People Photograph’: “At our best and most fortunate we make pictures because of what stands in from of the camera, to honor what is greater and more interesting than we are. We never accomplish this perfectly, though in return we are given something perfect – a sense of inclusion. Our subject thus redefines us, and is part of the biography by which we want to be know.”