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All the fabric you see here has been woven in Scotland using Scottish spun woollen yarn. The fabrics are a unique Stock supported range designed by Alexanders of Scotland, which is the weaving division of Smiths of Peterhead, one of UK's longest establishes woollen textile factories.
A family managed business, Smith's heritage goes as far back as 1818. Historically, Smith's mill developed with the Industrial Revolution from what was essentially a rural cottage industry. The company first developed a reputation for heavily milled woollen cloth for the seafarers of Aberdeenshire, ideally located near the town of Peterhead, Europe's largest white fishing port.
This developed into servicing the London woollen merchant houses, specialising in the servicing of London tailors, at that time a flourishing source of employment. Ever since the company has been known in the fashion industry for its beautiful Shetland and Lamsbwool cloths, with hundreds of exquisite apparel designs shown every year at Premiere Vision in Paris.
Today the company also produces beautiful furnishing fabrics using the traditional spinning and weaving methods which have changed little since the Industrial Revolution, except perhaps for the efficiency of the motors used. Smith's continues to use the traditional Scottish methods of manufacturing woollens - the same loose stock blending methods to produce the colour melanges, the same processing oil percentages required to protect the quality of the fibre, the same cast iron carding sets given to us during World War 2 to produce the standard khaki, and the same patient weaving speeds used to safeguard the quality of the fabric.
It's worth mentioning this because when it comes to the best quality woollen cloth, cheap imports are not just cheap because of foreign labour. The Scottish method continues to be used by Smith's to ensure the quality of the fabric remains the best in its class in the world.
And if authenticity is important to you, when buying from us you can be reassured that your purchase will not only have been woven in Scotland, but also woven in Scotland using Scottish spun yarns. So next time you pick up a Scottish or English woven fabric take a close look at the warp and weft, and ask yourself... "where does the yarn come from"?
A family managed business, Smith's heritage goes as far back as 1818. Historically, Smith's mill developed with the Industrial Revolution from what was essentially a rural cottage industry. The company first developed a reputation for heavily milled woollen cloth for the seafarers of Aberdeenshire, ideally located near the town of Peterhead, Europe's largest white fishing port.
This developed into servicing the London woollen merchant houses, specialising in the servicing of London tailors, at that time a flourishing source of employment. Ever since the company has been known in the fashion industry for its beautiful Shetland and Lamsbwool cloths, with hundreds of exquisite apparel designs shown every year at Premiere Vision in Paris.
Today the company also produces beautiful furnishing fabrics using the traditional spinning and weaving methods which have changed little since the Industrial Revolution, except perhaps for the efficiency of the motors used. Smith's continues to use the traditional Scottish methods of manufacturing woollens - the same loose stock blending methods to produce the colour melanges, the same processing oil percentages required to protect the quality of the fibre, the same cast iron carding sets given to us during World War 2 to produce the standard khaki, and the same patient weaving speeds used to safeguard the quality of the fabric.
It's worth mentioning this because when it comes to the best quality woollen cloth, cheap imports are not just cheap because of foreign labour. The Scottish method continues to be used by Smith's to ensure the quality of the fabric remains the best in its class in the world.
And if authenticity is important to you, when buying from us you can be reassured that your purchase will not only have been woven in Scotland, but also woven in Scotland using Scottish spun yarns. So next time you pick up a Scottish or English woven fabric take a close look at the warp and weft, and ask yourself... "where does the yarn come from"?
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