First of all, thank you for your interest in Shipley & Halmos. We know you don't have to be reading this. We appreciate that you are. Hopefully we can keep your attention until the end of this foreword, but we won't be mad if you just wanna move on to the pictures and short descriptions. This has already gone on too long, hasn't it? Ok, let’s keep going...

The intention of the Shipley & Halmos compendium is to help you understand the reasons for the Shipley & Halmos creation. Using a complex, highly scientific process of cutting fabric into pattern shapes and then sewing them together, S&H is, quite simply, a maker of clothing. Very similar to how others might make clothing, yes. But the distinct difference lies in the quality and in the details.

One might not know that Shipley & Halmos also produce and design many other products, including shoes and books, to name only a couple. Sunglasses, bags and original art, to name a few more. Jewelry, furniture, movies, scarves, etc. You get the point.

This compendium should leave you with a comfortable sense of the S&H brand as a designer, editor, author, artist, publisher, filmmaker, dancer, architect, demigod and ultimately design studio. Stay tuned for further updates.

Not one customer has ever asked, "why the name Rhodes?". S&H typically holds its naming convention secrecy paramount. It wouldn't be said that "Rhodes" channels a nefarious group of young gentlemen* charged with pigeon murder, snorting of anthills, and factory accidents claiming very functional human digits. It would also remain arcane that even with the loss of a precious finger "Rhodes" could still manage to summon the unleashed fury of Hell's fire through nothing but wood and wound cabling. All the same, it would be meaningless to name such a pant after a stupid 70's rocker...

* Yes, Ozzy did most of the idiotic things.

The desire to link symbolic references with events in life is a human trait. Think works of art, tattoos and (:-D)’s just to name a few. At Shipley & Halmos, a team member must walk on proverbial burning coals to be endowed with this beautiful sterling silver mark of achievement. It symbolizes a sense of craftsmanship, pride, value and above all, the group.

Jeff and Sam went to the University of Colorado. CU’s mascot is Ralphie, an American Bison or “buffalo” (there are no real buffalo in North America, but whatever). Ralphie comes from a celebrated lineage of buffalo and is best remembered in these parts for almost biting off Sam’s hand in a petting pen outside a liquor store. Ralphie was chosen as the name because of the varsity jacket’s formidable resistance to being expunged from the ever-churning cycle of fashion. Like Ralphie, it will never settle for being caged in a store parking lot.

Design inspiration usually presents itself in all forms of creativity. S&H practices Henri Poincaré’s approach… Supreme organization from seemingly randomized, reoccurring patterns. It’s all very physics-y, ‘nahmean?

Close your eyes and imagine a world where it rains fabric softener. Visualize all surfaces
feeling like puppy fur. Now think of all these puppy fur things washed with Snuggles* rain
and then dried in a warm alpine breeze. That’s how soft S&H’s Supima cotton socks are.

Named after the S&H HQ cross streets and the impetus to the creation of Shipley & Halmos. Our suit is the best-tailored garment at its price that you will find anywhere. Made in Portugal at a world-renowned tailor with Italian fabrics. Our standard of quality. Greene and Grand set the bar for S&H as a company and with you as the exalted consumer.

Know that baseball glove you got when you were nine? Rough as sandpaper, hurt your hand, made you loathe “grounders”. Now remember your older brother’s glove? Soft, supple, comfortable, familiar, perfect… Max is like your brother’s glove. Most other desert boots are like your shitty glove.

Marine, a garment washed woven shirt, is the answer, the truth, the authentic, the fact, the gospel, the infallible, the unvarnished, the legitimate, the exact, the affirma- tion, the proof, the vindication, the pretext, the account, the reason… Does this need to go on?

Deep within 8 Greene Street you will find the voluminous Shipley & Halmos design studio. Inventory of contents:

-8 desks
-8 office chairs
-assorted Apple products
-2 large colorful paintings of boring things
-vintage chairs of varying color
-high ceilings (really high)
-1 large factory issue sky light
-4 neon light bulb sculptures
-28 framed pictures
-87 pens
-63 working pens
-49 2B pencils
-1 Game Boy
-1 Canon 7D camera
-1 official sized basketball rim with net (no backboard, unmounted)
-1 oversized wall clock
-66 binders of fabric swatches
-227 clothing samples (basement not included)
-2 rugs
-3 mirrors
-1 showroom
-2 bathrooms
-1 photo studio
-2 strobe lights
-1 large soft box
-1 medium soft box
-1 strobe battery
-1 white back drop
-22 colored back drops
-assorted cables and fittings
-1 large outdated European map circa 1961
-1 medium sized poster of Gisele Bundchen shot by Mario Testino
-1 wooden design table
-1 large pattern making table
-various tools for pattern making
-1 industrial Juki sewing machine
-1 bottle of Cuban rum
-4 cacti

On the 2nd floor of 8 Greene Street one will find the Shipley & Halmos sales showroom. It is noted that calling this space a “showroom” is misleading. Below is to expand on its various uses throughout one calendar year:

-4 sales seasons
-2 press seasons
-2 look book shoots
-1 holiday card
-109 company meetings
-854 lunches
-2 store staff parties
-1 movie screening
-21 company happy hours
-7 group cleanings
-256 coffee brewings