the RMC story

Hey man, I am so happy to have you here!

My name is Marcel Martin I am 34 years old, proud father of twins an EDC junkie with a passion for photography and sewing and founder of my small brand RMC.

Under the name RMC (Real Men Carry) I sell handmade handkerchiefs in the highest possible quality. Made here in beautiful Winterberg, Germany.

But first let's see how it came to be that I am sitting at the sewing machine in my spare time today. It was definitely not planned.

In 2018, my wife blessed me with 2 healthy twin boys. The two of them have turned our lives upside down from then on. What the whole thing has to do with handkerchiefs I explain to you now.

2020 so after 2 years as a father I noticed that there are 2 things that you consume in disproportionate quantities when you have toddlers. First, of course, diapers and secondly, paper dry and wet wipes. With the diapers nothing is to be done however with the wipes an idea came to me.

I remembered my grandpa, who always - and I mean "always" - had a cloth handkerchief in his pocket to clean his nose but also other things. So why not use a cloth handkerchief to clean my boys' dirty faces and fingers....

Instead of buying handkerchiefs I sewed 2 of my own from old work shirts of my father-in-law. From then on I carried them in my back pocket every day and the consumption of paper wipes decreased noticeably.

At the same time, I was already in the EDC (every day carry) community on Instagram. This revolves around the topic of "things that man carries with him every day". So things like pocket knives, flashlights, wallets, etc. On February 22, 2020, I posted a picture of one of my self-sewn handkerchiefs. It did not take long and I had a message in the mailbox if I would sell these handkerchiefs. This message did not remain the last.

Immediately after that I decided to give it a chance and started looking for fabrics and yarns to offer a small edition of handmade handkerchiefs for sale - this decision was made on March 6, 2020 - the birth of RMC. I designed the logo and had labels produced. I bought a red/black flannel fabric and beige yarn at our local fabric store. Then I was sitting at the sewing machine to produce the first handkerchiefs. Right then I realized that I have no idea about sewing whatsoever, but that didn't stop me. I folded the edges of the fabrics and put them on top of each other. Then I sewed everything with a decorative seam. So the corners of the handkerchiefs were not sewn neatly and remained open.

The first RMC handkerchief was shown on my IG feed in March 13, 2020. at that time still without label. As soon as the labels arrived I took pictures of the finished handkerchiefs and posted them on Instagram. Purchases could only be made via direct message. After 20 minutes, the 10 available handkerchiefs were sold out.

I had never expected that. For me it was clear that I should not stop here. So I went in search of new fabrics and yarns. At the same time, I dug deep into the topics of fabrics and yarns to understand what to look for. What is the right fabric for me and my customers. The same for yarns. I also watched tutorials on sewing and even ironing to improve myself and the product offered as quickly as possible.

The next handkerchiefs I published were sold out just as quickly. Then in September 2020 I registered RMC as a side business and opened my online store. Since then, the quality of the handkerchiefs has improved from handkerchief to handkerchief. Both in the production itself and the fabric-yarn composition. In the meantime I have found the perfect yarn for my purposes and I know exactly what to look for in the fabrics to be able to offer perfect handkerchiefs.

I hope that the story of RMC will continue to be as positive and successful as it has been so far. I have many ideas to expand my portfolio and I am also in close contact with other craftsmen to realize cool and new cooperations.

Thanks for reading and your support

Marcel