08/08/2026
FAIL WE MAY,
Two years ago, we quietly closed COMMON ILKE VINTAGE. We owe you an apology for disappearing without saying goodbye.
The truth is, accepting that our business was no longer viable was one of the hardest things we’ve had to face. We simply weren’t ready to find the words.
So first: thank you.
Thank you to everyone who shopped with us, visited our store, shared our passion and supported us over the years. And to those who have stopped us since to tell us how much CIV is missed, those conversations have meant more than you could know.
They reminded us that what we built mattered.
But sometimes, an ending isn’t the end.
SAIL WE MUST,
It finally feels like the right time to begin again.
For nearly 20 years, we’ve carried the idea for our own brand. It was always intended to be part of CIV - named, imagined and quietly waiting for its moment. Life had other plans. Now that moment has arrived.
Welcome to CLEAVER BANK.
The name carries a story very close to our hearts.
Cleaver Bank was the fishing boat my great-grandad Billy Campbell skippered out of Grimsby Docks in the 1960s. I never got to know him. He was lost overboard in the North Sea on what should have been his final voyage before retirement.
His story has stayed with me throughout my life.
Naming the brand after his boat is our tribute to him, and to the values his story represents: hard work, resilience, humility and simply getting on with the job.
We’re starting small and doing things properly. Expect fisherman-inspired watch caps, knitwear, socks and carefully selected vintage pieces, with our launch planned for October.
Fewer things. Made properly. Made to last.
We hope you’ll join us as we humbly begin again.
“Fail we may, Sail we must.”
Dave
