TEMPORARILY CLOSING
When soil and surface materials erode over time, they leave layers of sediments that, with the right amount of pressure and heat, the aborning layers will turn to stone. To live a life hardened and unmoving is living for protection, for survival. Our devotion to life is not to survive but to thrive. For Merchants to continue evolving and adapting, we must move through the world as clay; softened, tender and malleable, and artistic when put in the right hands.
Our identity is only enriched by finding the balance between brand consciousness and consumption. Our motto has always been - make well, design few - for Merchants to exist dedicated to our foundations, we need to stop, reflect, adapt and grow. At Merchants of the Sun, we want to build a future that always considers our impact; on our identity, community, and environment. Our brand is only lived by our values, so compromising them in favour of commercial growth would damage everything we believe in.
Creating is a luxury and sharing our art and passion is a privilege we refuse to waste. Unfortunately, we are part of an industry that generates a significant and shocking impact on our planet. Although our methods are purposeful, transparent and environmentally conscious, we still work alongside labels that encourage fastidious trend cycles, mass production, and over-consumption. So, where do we go from here? How do we dismantle the system?
We will be shutting down our online store, pausing, reassessing, and continuing to move forward with an impassioned assurance unlike ever before, to ultimately rebuild the Merchants brand and core mechanisms.
Our community is our biggest pride and greatest mirror, one where we can see our values and impression reflected back at us. Each customer is a building block of our identity, bonded by a unique world understanding, fused by a shared vision.
We are reshaping our approach to ensure that our community remains our principal energy source rather than our sales. Production is not our end goal - thoughtful creation and community cultivation is. Devoting time to appreciating and enacting the needs of each of you will ultimately invent the roadmap of Merchants.
So, this isn't a goodbye, but a see you soon.
Behind the scenes, we are reworking and realigning the structures of sustainability, culture and design to continue dressing you for the future through a balance of ethics and aesthetic.
The House of Merchants store on the Gold Coast will still have products available to purchase in store only - and you can still find us via our network of stockists.
Merchants of the Sun is a brand you will always be proud of, and that won't ever change.
We will be documenting the entire process, hoping to be as transparent as possible across our TikTok @merchantsofthesun.
As always: Make few, design well.
Banksy.
