To the V&A

To the V&A to see a nice new-season hopsack jacket of ours en situ as a part of the Creators of the Exceptional spectacle, which is running in tandem with the five-star Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto exhibition.

Organised by the Department for Business and Trade, the V&A and UKFT, Creators of the Exceptional features a feast of fabrics and finished garments from a wide range of British textile mills and manufacturers (including Harris Tweed, Holland & Sherry and, not least, ourselves) and shines a light something that much inspired Madame Chanel this side of La Manche.

Chanel was, of course, a big fan of British textiles, making particularly good use of Scottish and Yorkshire-woven tweed. In 1932 her enthusiasm extended to establishing Chanel Broadhead Fabrics, which had its own mill at Kirkheaton, near Huddersfield. 

Going some way to capture the raison d'être of the event, our own jacket was cut from cloth from another Huddersfield mill: the two-hundred-year-old Marling & Evans. Plus ça change. 

Sincere thanks to Dr Sindy Liu at the Department for Business and Trade, UKFT and the V&A for inviting us to take part and welcoming us so warmly at this week's soirée.