Common Hours’ silk robes: where loungewear meets black tie

Has your affinity for loungewear hit an all time low? We'd hazard a guess, that like us, you're sick of shuffling around in your sweat pants. Perhaps you're envisaging a piece which promises ease but also elegance. Something that doesn’t only appeal for indoors, but something which encompasses a heavy hit of escapsim. Luckily, Syndey-based label Common Hours has the utterly luxurious answer.

Long before the the Covid-19 pandemic caused us to reassess the breadth of our day-to-day wardrobes, the brand's founder Amber Symond had been musing over what silhouette would resonate not only indoors at home, but also at dinner, and which would act as a versatile packing piece, whatever the timezone, the country or the occasion. ‘I specifically wanted to create a piece that could fit into any style mould,' she says. The result is a fluid kimono-inspired robe that is fully reversible, crafted in sumptuous silk, and printed and hand-embroidered with art-, music- and literature-inspired motifs that resemble stylistic scribblings in a diary.

‘The silhouette is really an unassuming blank canvas,’ Symond adds of Common Hours' signature shape, which is used to convey a range of visual ‘curiosities’. The label's robes reference a range of artworks, texts and songs, from lithographs of Josephine Baker by Paul Colin to lyrics from The Jesus and Mary Chain's ‘Just Like Honey', and musings on art by Oscar Wilde to taxidermy creations by Dutch artists Darwin, Sinke & van Tongeren.

The pieces – which are available to purchase on Matchesfashion.com – are produced in limited runs ranging from ten to 50. The finest and most delicate silks are sourced from France’s Maison Hurel and from Saiei Orimono in Japan, and hand embroidery is completed by artisans of the Chanakya atelier in India. Finally, the designs are printed and constructed in Australia. ‘The same level of detail is adhered to inside and out,' Symond says. 

While most of us will have to make do, for now, with flaunting a Common Hours’ robe in our domestic setting, Symond emphasises the versatile appeal of the brand's designs. ‘You could wear it to lie in around the house, or to attend a black-tie event. It's really down to your own imagination.' 

INFORMATION

commonhours.co.uk

matchesfashion.com