Following on from our Joy Division collection, we are very excited to be delving deeper into the Factory Records archive, designed by the legend that is Peter Saville. We’ve paid tribute to the bands but we wanted to honour the iconic label that was there at the forefront of the British music revival in the North West in the late 1970s.
The Factory collection takes inspiration from the unofficial identity of Factory Records that was set by the Factory 1 poster of 1978. The story goes that then design student Peter approached Tony Wilson to try and get involved in the music scene he loved because he was envious of fellow Manchester design student Malcolm Garrett's work with Buzzcocks. That poster was labelled FAC1 and kicked off a style of categorisation that underpinned the identity of Factory. Every poster, album, compilation put out by the label had a FAC number. They even gave a number to a lawsuit and an office pet.
Armed only with a Jan Tschichold book to show the style he would produce, Tony agreed and Peter set to work to produce a poster for the new night called The Factory that would be held for four Fridays in May/June at the Russell Club, Moss Side and featuring Joy Division, The Durutti Column and Big in Japan.
As if to set the tone for the way Factory Records would work, the poster was delivered to Tony at the venue on the third of the four nights and is now a collector's item. It's bold yellow and black design was inspired by the industrial landscape and specifically NCAP Car Parks. The "Use Hearing Protection" sign - stolen from a door at Peter's art college - set the tone for the FAC identity for years to come, culminating in the iconic interior of the Hacienda.
The Milltag x Factory collection celebrates the label synonymous with the revival of British music in the late 1970s and 1980s. Included is a jersey, bib-shorts, cap, snood and track mitts. It is available via pre-order ONLY from 27th January 2020.
