Regrets Only energises nostalgic ephemera in their revival of US workwear brand The Big Favorite

Beginning in the 1930s, The Big Favorite is an American workwear brand founded on principles of quality and durability. Now relaunched by the founder’s great-granddaughter, the values have remained the same, but with a primary focus on transparency and sustainability – producing clothes entirely made of recycled fabric salvaged from the nearly 5000 tonnes of undergarment textile waste thrown away in the US on a daily basis. Inspired by the drive behind the company, Boston-based design studio Regrets Only took on the task of crafting their identity, seeing the opportunity to create a system that is not only inspired by sustainability but is itself innately recycled. Taking advantage of the existing brand ephemera from the early 20th Century, Regrets Only remixed the graphic styling, and with it, the inherent nostalgia felt as a result, with a contemporary aesthetic understanding resulting in a refreshing, exciting and unexpected brand. “The original logo was one of my favourite parts of the original branding, so it was really a case of not fixing what wasn’t broken,” RegretsOnly’s founder Caleb Halter explains, “and instead using the spirit and charm of that aesthetic to guide the rest of the work.” Due to the focus on circularity, Halter recalls the significance of visually re-using elements, telling us “it was hugely important to re-use as much as we could from an identity perspective and not impose anything extraneous when we already had such a strong foundation of elements to build on.” Working closely with the CEO, Halter explains the amazing access to curiosa they had, including the CEO great-grandfather’s original scrapbook and memorabilia. “Originally all of that source material was just on a single slide meant to brief us on the work,” Halter explains “but it became immediately clear that that was the work,” needing to find a way to honourably bring it back to life.