Proper, ethical and sustainable manufacturing from Yorkshire

Making from first principles

When we set out to make the best Mountain Shirts in the world, we chose Huddersfield as our home. It’s a town that’s been making cloth for over 1000 years.  We start with nature’s finest natural fibres and then our town begins its work. The wool is dyed, spun, woven, milled and raised all within ten miles of our mill in Huddersfield. This is proper ethical and sustainable manufacturing from Yorkshire.

This area is pretty special in having its networks of highly specialist spinners, weavers, dyers and finishers.  It’s an interconnected industry that requires every cog of every mill to work together symbiotically to produce some of the finest cloth in the world.  Each process is required for the whole thing to work.  Without any one of the elements, there would be no cloth.  Made in Huddersfield, is a mark of the highest quality.  Recognised from Hong Kong, to Tokyo, New York and cherished from artisans on Savile Row to the most famous fashion houses in the world.  It’s like shoes from Northampton, cars from the West Midlands, champagne from France, and pies from Melton Mowbray.

We are grateful and honoured to work with some incredible mills such as W.T. Johnson – the finest worsted wool finisher in the world. Or Zachariah Hinchliffe who have been spinning luxury yarns since 1766. There are many mills that have a pedigree extending centuries Taylor & Lodge, Bower Roebuck, Marling & Evans, Samuel Tweed, too many to mention.

Behemoths such as Courtaulds which in their heydey was one the biggest textile companies in the world didn’t survive the decline of UK textiles as production shifted off-shore in the last century. Many of the local mills across Yorkshire on the other hand managed to adapt and survive depressions, world wars and economic downturns. For anyone though who has worked in textiles long enough, it has always felt a bit like trouble at mill. But the enduring companies have managed to innovate and produce some of the best and most desirable quality conceivable and this is what they will continue to do and fingers crossed our mills will not only survive but will thrive again very soon. In the meantime if we happen to be investing in a suit, coat, upholstery any time soon, we all just need to look out for Made in Huddersfield in the fabric selvedge.