Fashion
Aug 02, 2021
by Sidney Pacampara
Upcycle Brand Stain Shade Brings Tie-Dye To Manhattan Portage Bags
by Sidney Pacampara
Aug 02, 2021

London-based brand Stain Shade is on its way to becoming a mainstay in the growing tie-dye market. The brand’s latest project expands its upcycle, multi-color offering from apparel to bags through a collaboration with Manhattan Portage.

Famous for being one of the go-to gear and pack options since 1983, Manhattan Portage’s bags have received love from bike messengers, city cyclists, DJs, and now everyone who simply needs over-the-shoulder storage. Stain Shade founder and dyer James Brackenbury is one of these many fans. His ongoing love for Manhattan Portage is what sparked the collaboration, a similar way menswear designer Robyn Lynch’s partnership with Columbia started based off of her childhood fandom for the outdoor brand.

Stain Shade

Stain Shade’s upcoming collection will offer a series of bags in various sizes. The capsule showcases Brackenbury’s signature style without comprising the durability and functionality of Manhattan Portage’s products. According to Hypebeast, hundreds of meters of surplus fabric was sent to Brackenbury from the Manhattan Portage factory and were then hand-dyed before constructing the final pieces.

All Stain Shade projects are dyed in South London, home of Brackenbury who gained valuable fashion business knowledge with his time working for different labels and designers such as Vivienne Westwood. Since 2017, Stain Shade has partnered with LN-CC on various projects ranging from a line a tie-dyed sweats, which kicked off the label, to remixed Clarks Originals Desert Boots for the store’s tenth anniversary.

Manhattan Portage

Additionally, Stain Shade creates tie-dye collections out of upcycled deadstock or pre-worn garments from brands like Carhartt, Nike, and Online Ceramics. These pieces breathe new life to clothes that typically would head to the landfill and never see the light of day again, an ongoing approach celebrated by other DIY labels such as BentGableNits.

The Stain Shade x Manhattan Portage capsule collection will release on August 9 at retailers like Selfridges, Browns, 18montrose, as well as online through the NTWRK app. To shop some of Stain Shade’s previous drops, head over to stainshade.com

In other news, check out Piilgrim, the vegan brand skateboarding needs.