Best of British: Brora meets Troy of London
One upside of the past few months is the number of small British fashion labels that have negotiated their way through the challenges and found their businesses either holding steady or growing. A key lesson from the pandemic is that a web of global production hubs isn’t the only answer. Sometimes small and local is better. So this seems like a good moment to begin a love-in.
When I say British, I don’t just mean based and paying tax here, but manufacturing here. Believe it or not, there are still some notable clusters of craft and expertise and they deserve nurturing and cherishing.
As Victoria Stapleton, founder of Brora, who has been closely involved with mills in Hawick, Scotland since she launched in 1993, says, “I strongly believe in ‘Made in Britain’ where possible, especially when particular products are done so well on these shores. The skills of some of our weavers, spinners and knitters have been handed down for generations. When you work closely with local suppliers, your relationships become collaborative, something that has been of huge significance this year.”
A case in point: this gorgeous Fair Isle jumper that Stapleton co-designed with Troy London, another UK label specialising in town-country items, which are worn by the Duchess of Cambridge (and members of Team Telegraph).
It’s made in one of the oldest knitwear mills in Scotland on a “whole garment machine”, which facilitates a seamless knit process that results in zero waste in terms of yarn. “Another advantage of whole garment knitting,” says Stapleton, “is that there’s no chance of broken seams where linking comes away from the body of the jumper, leaving gaping holes.
Perceptions of Uk-based manufacturing seem to be shifting.
“When we launched Troy five years ago we were told it would be impossible to build our brand using local factories,” says Rosie van Cutsem (one of Troy’s two sibling founders). “But we’ve been delighted by the amount of expertise and industry here.”
“The carbon footprint of these jumpers is hugely reduced by being made locally,” adds Stapleton, “but it means that even in the current climate, we’ve had minimal delays to production.”
As for how to maximise wear (also important) of this knit, which comes in two colourways, Stapleton suggests teaming it with soft velvet cords in clarets or dark green, trainers, a cotton ribbed polo for winter, or popping it over a chiffon printed maxi dress with leather lace-up boots.
Van Cutsem opts for leggings, mules and crisp white shirting “good with the bold geometrics, which are great for video meetings”.