Benjamin Vorono and Samuel Kientsch founded London based menswear label Braille in January 2009. With no formal training, the duo offers an unaffected perspective on fashion that seamlessly fuses their backgrounds in Sociology and Graphic Design. An Army brat from the US and a born and bred Londoner, they bonded over their love of the cultural and natural worlds. A lack of clothing they could identify with led them to design for themselves, eventually inspiring them to start their own business. Braille is a textile driven brand focused on the long-term exploration of men’s wardrobes. Launched in February 2010 with the tactile and functional collection “A Gentle Wake,” the designers created a concise set of tactile and functional garments composed of Yorkshire tweeds and Scottish waxed cottons. This first collection was immediately picked up by independent boutiques Beyond the Valley and Wolf and Badger, later that year the designers launched their own e-commerce site, garnering custom from Hong Kong, Australia and the US. Following on the success of their launch, Braille showed their Spring/Summer 2011 collection “Colt” in Paris, this time trading wools for the light linens of Northern Ireland. Choosing to grow with restraint rather than fury, Braille maintained their initial stockists and instead focused on building their relationships with British manufacturers.Autumn/Winter 2011 collection, “Our Damn Hands” is a natural progression of Samuel and Benjamin’s strong but delicate design signature, incorporating a wider range of textiles and tough metal fastenings that no man would feel uncomfortable in. The designers continue to carve their own niche on the London and international scene, offering collections comprised of the best of British fabrics and manufacturing in cuts that suit the active, modern gentleman.