Let’s start with how you met. Can you tell Hint where it was, if you remember?

Cozette: Chariots! [A notorious gay sauna in Shoreditch]. Joke. (Laughs.)

Sid: I first met Coz in 1998, when I’d just graduated from the Royal College of Art and I went for an interview at Bella Freud. I walked into the massive studio, through this huge hall and sitting at a desk at the end of it was Cozette. Bella was running late, so Coz and I had a brief chat, which sort of sealed our friendship.

Joe: And Sid and I met at a Matthew Williamson... no, a Julien Macdonald party.

Cozette: I was supposed to be there but I'd had a row with my ex-boyfriend, so I didn’t end up going.

Sid: I didn’t want to be there either, really.

And, between you, you’ve worked on knitwear for some pretty big names...

Joe: Yep, we’ve been around! Between us, we’ve worked on pieces for Giles [Deacon], Alexander McQueen, Lanvin, Jonathan Saunders and Bella [Freud].

Do you have any really memorable pieces you worked on that you have a soft spot for?

Cozette: The Hug In Mug, which was a balaclava with sleeves and mittens attached, for Giles. Oh, and the Crocodile for him, too, which he told me would keep me busy out of the pub, because of the time it took to make. I never thought that he would put it on the catwalk. I thought he was just taking the piss. When it came out I actually blushed with pride and made Joe on the opposite side of the catwalk laugh and mouth something.

Joe: My actual words were: you dozy cow. (Laughs.)

How did SIBLING develop from your friendship?

Sid: It really was quite organic. We obviously discuss fashion a lot as it’s what all three of us do, but more and more our conversations turned into looking at other people’s work and deciding what was wrong with it and what we’d change about it. Ultimately, we decided we just had to do it ourselves.

Joe: Yes, completely. The good thing is because we’ve all been around a bit we’ve gotten over that fashion egotism that you have when you’re younger. It was a creative decision more than anything; we share the same stylistic vision.

Cozette: And we all adore knitwear.

It’s quite rare for three people to chime together like you do. And the name SIBLING is charged with familial connotations...

Sid: The word 'family' was on our minds, but at that point [Richard] Mortimer already had his club of the same name and it didn't really fit with us anyway. It didn’t sound right.

Cozette: It sounded a bit woolly!

Sid: So we made a list and SIBLING was a word on it that really summed everything up quite eloquently.

Joe: And the one thing we didn’t want to do is use our names. It’s not about that. It’s about really great knitwear and creating a great body of work.

Sid: SIBLING also lends itself to the concept of collaboration, which is really important to us. We’re surrounded by great people—artists, musicians, performers—and the idea of being open to working with people we love is incredibly important. And we find we do it anyway, even through conversation.

Let's talk about the line. It’s entirely hand-worked...

Joe: It is. Each piece is purely individual as a result. We’re very aware that not everyone can buy into it financially. Still, people can still look at it and appreciate it, whatever the case.

The intricate detailing borders on couture. You'd be hard-pressed to find detail like that outside of a Paris atelier...

Sid: The collection itself is designed as menswear, but there’s a gender overlap to it—stylists in particular have shot a few pieces on women. And Cozette, who, when we last checked, is a girl.

Joe: There's an animal theme to this first collection, but it came about by accident. We just have ideas and make the pieces individually and it kind of evolves. There are flashes of strong color throughout the range and lots of textures. Cashmere, merino wool, fox and mink all feature, as does lots of hand-embellishment.

Sid: The great thing is, because it’s knitwear, everything is crafted. In knitting, the fabric and the garment aren't separated; it’s all integral to the process and very much a labor of love. There’s something special about it because of that.

Joe: We want people to grow old with the pieces, and to still be wearing them to death in a decade or two. Clothing that becomes worn in by and synonymous with its owner is a brilliant, precious thing.

I hear Gaultier loved the Breton twin set that Cozette wore to his recent perfume launch in Paris.

Cozette: I wore the Breton vest and cardigan deliberately, as a total homage, and arrived to find that there was a Breton on the large roast turkey upstairs! It also had a matching Horn of Plenty, which some wag thought would look good on my head. Anyway, when I was out smoking with Lulu [Kennedy] and James [Long] in the courtyard, James said hello to Gaultier, who, never having met us, politely chatted away, kissed Lulu's hand and told me that he’d seen me earlier and liked what I was wearing. I told him that it was one of mine and he replied, "then… you are good." Buoyed by a comment from someone I have so much respect for, I decided it was an epiphany, and I rather rashly got on the Eurostar back to London and handed in my notice at my day job.

What keeps your minds ticking? What inspires you?

Cozette: Between us, we're motivated by everything from Savile Row and BoomBox kids to reliving our teenage rebellions through knitwear—gothic imagery, skinheads, uniforms, mods, rockers, punks, ska boys.

Sid: And the gaps in our own wardrobes.

Is there anyone in the public eye you’d like to dress?

(In unison) Not really!

Do you think London has informed your work? Would it be the same if you were somewhere else?

Cozette: You know, I think if the three of us had met in Milan or New York, by the nature of how we are—it may have been harder, granted—it would’ve still happened. We’re not wallflowers! We just kind of get out there and get amongst it.