Makers
The best makers are tucked here and there, up and down the Isles. And yet all of them are, in a manner of speaking, on the doorstep. Some are small, light-under-bushel sorts; others grand and world-renowned. For every family-run, hand-operated, tried-and-tested and mastered-over-generations outfit, there’s one keenly embracing the computer-run and the new-fangled. What they share is excellence. There’s nothing common-or-garden here; they all make uncommonly well.
- Mohair mill, West Yorkshire
- While this corner of West Yorkshire is no longer centre of the woollen world, its makers capably keep up with the march of progress. Some, even, are in rude health. Read more
- Woollen mill, Gloucestershire
- Words and pictures from a maker of outstanding wools and cashmeres in the south-east of the country. Not long now.
- Button maker, the Midlands
- After 150 years, the Midlands button maker recently vacated its original Victorian premises, but the product off its line hasn’t changed a jot. Read more
- Cashmere mill, West Yorkshire
- A dozen or more looms’ whizz and thump is the first thing of note when stepping out onto the floor of the mill in the Heavy Woollen District of West Yorkshire. More
- Outerwear factory, London N16
- Meticulous cutters, unflappable seamsters, and pleasingly regimented tea breaks in north London. Coming up.
- Workroom, London NW1
- The north London workroom. Little over two and a half workspaces, 200 or so sq. feet, and pushing out samples and small runs for the best part of a century. More
- Knitwear maker, Nottingham
- Early spring is ordinarily a period of well-earned downtime for the father and daughter-run knitwear firm. Ordinarily.
