Night Shift: the people behind Drop 07

Every drop starts with a question. For Drop 07 it was a simple one: what do you wear when your working day starts at ten at night?

We did not want to guess, so we asked. Over two months we spent shifts with five people who work nights in New York, and wrote down everything they complained about.

Tomás, line cook

Tomás finishes at 1am and cycles forty minutes home to Queens. His issue was visibility. “Everything I own is black. I am basically invisible on that bridge.”

That became the Signal Longsleeve: plain in daylight, with a reflective tape print down one sleeve that lights up under headlights. We tested it by standing on Kent Avenue while Dee drove at us. Carefully.

Priya, door staff

Six hours standing still outside in January. Priya wanted a jacket that was warm at the neck and did not make her look “like a sleeping bag with legs”.

The Nightwatch Puffer has a stand collar that zips over your chin, fleece inside the hand pockets, and a cropped body so it sits right with wide trousers. It is rated to minus ten.

Marcus, cab driver

Marcus sits for ten hours. Every zip hoodie he owned bunched up at his stomach. The fix was a two-way zip on the Afterdark Zip Hoodie, so you can open it from the bottom when you sit down. He also asked for a phone pocket that works with a seatbelt on. It is on the left chest, inside.

Jun, DJ

“I need a bag that holds headphones, a USB stick and a sandwich, and that I can get into without taking it off.” That is the Crosstown Sling, almost word for word.

Aisha, night nurse

Aisha’s request was the simplest and the hardest: something she could put on after a twelve-hour shift that felt like a reward. We washed the fleece until it felt a year old. She has not given the sample back.

One run

Drop 07 is eight pieces, made once, in runs of 400 or fewer. Thank you to everyone who let us follow them around in the dark.