Ladles Not Labels

When fashion design lost its luster and took the form of fleeting, regurgitative styles and overconsumption, British menswear veterans Rachel Wythe-Moran and Simon Watkins traded trends for timelessness by opening Labour and Wait. In their East London shop, the business partners offer goods for the home, kitchen, and garden, each designed to last a lifetime. "We sell everyday classics," Watkins says, "products that almost don’t look as though they’ve been designed at all but have just evolved into the most practical form they could take." Now, ten years since they sowed the first seed for their store, Wythe-Moran and Watkins have accumulated a substantial stock of wares that will never go out of fashion.