At its height, the Scottish knitwear industry employed more than 9,000 people. Today, a cultural heritage rooted in small-scale family businesses is in danger of being eroded and the unique qualities and skills that come with producing knitwear in Scotland may become a distant memory. We have always relied on the generations of expertise that mark out knitwear production in Scotland and want to see it survive.
The secret to soft knitwear
Wool can vary enormously in how it feels on the skin but much of the softness that is unique to wool milled in Scotland stems from the way the fibres are handled and washed. The secret to knitwear made in Scotland is the purity of its waters.
Pictured: Toasty Coatigan
We work with a historic mill based in the marshy lowlands by Loch Leven. The site is a protected RSPB nature reserve and each drop of the precious, untainted water used to mill and wash the yarn is returned to the Loch. Nothing is wasted and any dyes used are certified by the strictest regulators in the industry to ensure no toxins or chemicals are released into the water. The protection of the wild natural beauty of the landscape and the birds around the reserve drives the philosophy at the mill’s heart.
Our choice to work with Scottish producers ensures us quality that is unrivalled. The knowledge and understanding of wool and cashmere and their intricacies and fluctuations is unique, and while historic methods are not promoted at the expense of progress or excellence, there is a value in the traditional means of spinning yarn, hand-linking garments and the choice of timeless stitches that allows us to create long-lasting, inherently beautiful knitwear.
We have always relied on the generations of expertise that mark out knitwear production in Scotland and want to see it survive.
Discover the collection
This autumn–winter Bamford has turned to the fields and farms of England and the wild landscapes of Scotland with a collection that draws inspiration from the resource that gives life to its creations – the earth’s soil.