When the temperature drops and the times shorten, it may be straightforward to cover away inside till the solar returns. If, nonetheless, you’re on the lookout for some impetus to spur you out into the world this winter, the Wallpaper* information to the world’s finest knitwear manufacturers has an array of designers, labels, makers and craftspeople creating covetable knits which span the colorful, the basic and the cosy, seeing you thru autumn, winter and past.
From historic Scottish and Italian mills to fluoro cashmere and sustainably-minded sweaters created from leftover yarns, we’ve divided the listing into three classes: ‘The Heritage Icons’ (manufacturers with a long time, if not centuries, in enterprise, and rooted in conventional craft), ‘The Revolutionary Up-and-Comers’ (a roster of labels disrupting basic knitwear tropes with daring color, surprising silhouettes and creative collaborations), and ‘The Luxurious Powerhouses’ (blockbuster labels the place glossy, modern design meets a deal with craft). In different phrases, there’s one thing for each style.
THE HERITAGE ICONS
Johnstons of Elgin
Johnstons of Elgin’s A/W 2024 assortment
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Johnstons of Elgin)
In its 225 years of existence, Johnstons of Elgin has mastered the artwork of making the proper cashmere sweater. Not solely does the Scottish heritage model produce cashmere merchandise which can be made totally in-house of their Elgin workshops on the River Lossie, in addition they present cashmere and wool to a number of the world’s largest vogue manufacturers. In terms of knitwear, Johnstons takes craftsmanship to the acute, as evidenced by the 33 people who find themselves concerned in creating one thing as seemingly easy as a shawl, with every step of the method – from dying and mixing to spinning – carried out by specialised artisans. As such, buying an merchandise from Johnstons is an funding: we suggest the model’s basic cable-knit sweater to put on with denims, beneath or blazer, or paired with one of many model’s tweed coats, the newest of that are created from the very best high quality merino wool fibres to make sure the checkered or houndstooth patterns have a daring, textural end.
Spend money on: the Donegal cable-knit sweater in Donegal cashmere (£650), a perennial wardrobe staple that’s made for males however might be swapped between genders. Accessible johnstonsofelgin.com.
johnstonsofelgin.com
Barrie
The Barrie Denim assortment
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Barrie)
Based on the Scottish Borders in 1903, Barrie is synonymous with luxurious cashmere – a lot so, it was acquired by Chanel’s elite circle of Métiers d’Artwork homes in 2012 (the time period refers back to the extremely expert artisanal makers which accomplice with the Parisian home on the supplies and embellishment used of their collections). As such, the model is part of a significant Chanel initiative launched in 2015 to make sure the standard and traceability of all of the cashmere the home makes use of, from the Mongolian plateaus the place the wool is harvested to the mills in Scotland the place it’s woven. In terms of craftsmanship, the model has few rivals. It’s the solely producer on this planet which nonetheless judges the washing of every garment individually and even has its personal coaching faculty to make sure that conventional practices reside on.
Along with producing cashmere for Chanel, Barrie launched its personal model in 2018, not too long ago collaborating with Sofia Coppola on a capsule assortment that features striped sweaters, pink cashmere jumpsuits and a ‘journey set’ scarf and eye masks. But, the model’s most spectacular creations is perhaps its trompe-l’oeil denim assortment, which options jackets and trousers that appear like they’re distressed denim however have the lightness and ease of cashmere.
Spend money on: the illusory Barrie Denim assortment, like its ‘denim’ jacket (£2460), which is definitely meticulously crafted from knitted cashmere and cotton. Accessible from selfridges.com.
barrie.com
Loro Piana
Loro Piana’s A/W 2024 ‘Into the Wild’ assortment
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Loro Piana)
Since its founding in 1924, Loro Piana has devoted itself to sourcing the best uncooked supplies from all over the world and reworking them into the very best high quality materials. The model’s many inventions embody a particularly uncommon ‘child cashmere’ cloth, which is an exceptionally comfortable materials created from the underfleece of Hircus goat children. It additionally produces an unique ‘Denim Silk’ materials, which blends silk and cotton to create what is perhaps essentially the most luxurious iteration of the workman’s cloth there’s, in addition to jumpers created from vicuña, the rarest materials on this planet.
If ‘sprezzatura’ – the Italian phrase for thought-about effortlessness – is what you’re on the lookout for, then Loro Piana is the model for you. Its knitwear designs span every part from sweaters to cashmere fits, and even when costs into the a number of thousand – with each bit taking hours of labor to supply – the ultimate product at all times feels easy.
Spend money on: there’s one thing to be mentioned for a basic – Loro Piana’s Parksville crew-neck sweater (£1,080) is crafted from cashmere from the Hircus goats of Internal Mongolia for an ultra-soft end. Accessible mytheresa.com.
loropiana.com
Begg & Co
Begg & Co’s A/W 2024 assortment
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Begg & Co)
As this listing attests, the Scottish and Italians are neck and neck with regards to producing the world’s finest knitwear cashmere. Begg & Co, which runs from mills in Ayr on Scotland’s west coast and Hawick, on the Scottish Borders – the so-called ‘residence of cashmere’ – is yet one more model that harnesses over 150 years of Scottish heritage to create distinctive cashmere knitwear, equipment and homeware.
What units Begg & Co aside, although, is the way in which that the model has developed, bringing a distinctly modern method to its knitwear, which spans top-stitched sweaters, vibrant rugby shirts, space-dyed yarns, and flower-adorned cashmere jumpers, largely within the straightforward, outsized matches for which the model has change into identified. It’s an method that extends to a vibrant homeware assortment, together with an array of cashmere and lambswool blankets, which embody summary motifs by textile artists like Hayley McCrirrick.
Spend money on: few do color like Begg & Co, so counteract gray winter days with its outsized ‘bitter apple’ scarf (£775), crafted from ultra-fine 15.5-micron cashmere within the model’s Scottish mills. Accessible beggxco.com.
beggxco.com
THE INNOVATIVE UP-AND-COMERS
Excessive Cashmere
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Excessive Cashmere)
When Amsterdam-based Saskia Dijkstra began making cashmere sweaters, she determined to maintain the model nameless, eschewing labels to make sure that she by no means needed to compromise high quality for worth or align her design concepts with a predetermined model id. In 2016, the model did get a reputation – Excessive Cashmere – however its maxim ‘no limits, no concessions’ nonetheless stands (whereas its labels at the moment are simply designed to be minimize away).
The model’s super-soft Mongolian cashmere creations are available in basic kinds and colors, like pullovers and cardigans in navy and felt gray, in addition to surprising ones, corresponding to tube tops, halter tops and mini skirts in over 100 shades together with magenta and lime inexperienced. Every thing is available in a single measurement, with the concept that you must choose a method to fit your form, moderately than selecting from an inventory of predetermined sizes.
Excessive Cashmere’s extensive buyer base testifies to the actual fact that it’s the cool child of cashmere. As Dijkstra informed us in 2022, ‘to influence ladies of their sixties [to wear cashmere] is simple, however to make younger folks really feel cool – it’s not. To have only one model, and to decorate all people, it’s good.’
Spend money on: for the uninitiated, start with the ‘Crew Hop’ (£510), the model’s roomy, unisex crew-neck sweater out there in an array of vibrant hues – after that, you’ll be addicted. Accessible harveynichols.com.
extreme-cashmere.com
Waste Yarn Mission
Waste Yarn Mission in Wallpaper* April 2022
(Picture credit score: Man Bolongaro)
Waste Yarn Mission was based in 2020 by designer Siri Johansen and her good friend Sebastien Maes, who owns the China-based knitwear producer Maestro Knitting, with a single aim: to rework the lots of yarn waste created by the style trade right into a line of playful, one-of-a-kind knitwear.
They succeed by embracing the randomness of the yarns they obtain to create vivid, colour-blocked sweaters, cardigans and equipment which have a spontaneous, hand-spun really feel. The model even developed its personal color principle methodology and utilized it to the ‘WYP Wheel of Fortune,’ which each and every artisan should spin to find out what colors will make up their subsequent creation.
As Johansen says, ‘I’ve at all times had a love for the waste yarn – the way in which the color of the random threads typically conflict so completely with the principle knit. This aspect of the unfamiliar, unusual and intriguing, is tough to consciously design. It may solely actually occur by probability.’
Spend money on: one of many model’s signature colour-blocked sweaters (€450). As they’re created from leftover yarn, every is totally distinctive, which means you’ll personal the one one in existence. Accessible wasteyarnproject.com.
wasteyarnproject.com
Hades
Hades x Tilda Swinton assortment
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Hades)
Hades is knitwear for punks. The British model, which was based in 2016 by younger Londoner Cassie Holland, is finest identified for designs impressed by figures from counter-culture (’Blondie,’ ‘Iggy Pop,’ and ‘X-Ray Specs’ have all appeared emblazoned on her vibrant, largely typographical sweaters). This 12 months, the model even collaborated with trailblazing actress Tilda Swinton on a group which featured a cardigan with a pair of pink palms sneaking across the bust, a mini skirt lined in scissors, and a skirt emblazoned by a picture of her character within the 1992 Sally Potter-directed film Orlando. Exterior of the collaboration, highlights embody a lime inexperienced cardigan with buttons that appear like cigarettes and scarves adorned with vintage pictures of historical Greek statues.
As Swinton herself says concerning the model, ‘the spirit of Hades is a phenomenal factor: vivacious and witty and enthusiastically counter-cultural, whereas concurrently devoted to the very best attainable high quality of historically made artisanal items within the coronary heart of the Scottish Borders, my familial residence.’ Do you want a greater overview than that?
Spend money on: the Tilda x Hades ‘Orlando’ skirt (£280) – fan merch that’s not for wallflowers. Accessible hades-shop.co.uk.
hades-shop.co.uk
Zankov
(Picture credit score: Pictures by Diego Bendezu, courtesy of Zankov)
‘It is about pushing the boundaries of what knitwear might be,’ Henry Zankov, founding father of the knitwear model Zankov, informed us a number of months in the past, forward of his most up-to-date New York Vogue Week present. The New York-based model launched in 2020 and has already change into a favorite amongst vogue insiders for its punchy color combos and revolutionary stitching strategies.
Zankov’s newest assortment noticed the designer experimenting with new knit supplies, developed alongside Italian mills, together with a wool yarn that has a small quantity of metallic woven into the thread to provide a luminous sheen and a barely wrinkled texture. However there have been additionally nonetheless loads of the beloved Zankov classics, together with his floor-length striped clothes and peek-a-boo intarsia tops. ‘We’ll most likely by no means do a fisherman or cable-knit sweater, or if we do will probably be in our personal means, as a result of for me, it is actually about pushing the boundaries of what’s attainable inside the sew and the method.’
Spend money on: go for daring with the ‘Leigh’ costume ($1,095), a body-contouring ribbed-knit in Zankov’s signature boldly-coloured stripes. Accessible zankovstudio.com.
zankovstudio.com
&Daughters
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of &Daughter)
&Daughter is, as its title suggests, a household affair. Founder Buffy Reid gained her data of knitwear via her Irish granny, who was a proficient knitter, and her father, who started his profession promoting the Donegal tweeds and Arans of his native nation. At the moment, Reid works with lots of the similar Scottish and Irish makers as her father to create the knitwear for &Daughter.
Like these conventional Arans, &Daughter knitwear is sturdy and insulating, however totally fashionable – its cardigans, pullovers and waistcoats are available in vibrant colors and have slouchy matches, leading to kinds that evoke faculty uniforms with a twist. Living proof, our favorite type from the model, the ‘Ada’ crewneck cardigan, a basic lambswool cardigan with a roomy match and stylish trocus shell buttons which is available in shades from poppy pink and pale blue to basic flannel gray.
The model additionally not too long ago launched menswear with a 10-piece debut assortment that features a chunky rib zip jacket, a collared knit polo shirt and a varsity-style sweater. Crafted from Scotland-spun lambswool and made in Scotland and Eire, the concise assortment will see you thru winter (and past).
Spend money on: the ‘Ada’ crew-neck cardigan in daring poppy pink, which is able to change into your winter-time uniform. Accessible ssense.com.
and-daughter.com
God’s True Cashmere
God’s True Cashmere’s upcoming S/S 2025 assortment
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of God’s True Cashmere)
God’s True Cashmere is a cashmere line based by Brad Pitt (that’s proper, Brad Pitt) and jewelry designer and holistic healer Sat Hari. The model started with a dream, however not a metaphorical one, an precise one which Hari had about Pitt saying he wanted extra cashmere and softness in his life. Taking it as an indication that they need to department into the world of vogue, the 2 buddies determined to make the dream a actuality with a line of 100 per cent cashmere garments spun in Italy.
Each merchandise God’s True Cashmere produces takes inspiration from Hari’s background as a healer, together with the truth that each shirt has seven buttons (to your seven chakras, naturally) created from gem stones hand-cut in India and meant to conjure a distinct constructive high quality like love or wealth. The model’s plaid button-ups are their most noteworthy product: with a boxy, unisex match and out there in a large number of checkered hues.
Spend money on: the model’s signature plaid shirt (£1,800), a very luxurious riff on the wardrobe staple which references the label’s American roots. Accessible mytheresa.com.
godstruecashmere.com
THE LUXURY POWERHOUSES
Luca Faloni
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Luca Faloni)
Luca Faloni was impressed to create his namesake model when he moved overseas and realised how uncommon it was to seek out the form of high-quality clothes he took as a right in his native Italy. Leaving his job as a enterprise guide in San Francisco to pursue vogue, Faloni resolved to create a model that celebrated Italian type whereas working to guard the craft of native artisans within the nation, lots of whom have been shedding work to producers abroad.
He succeeded, and this 12 months, Luca Faloni reached 10 years in enterprise, including linen shirts and leather-based outerwear to its already expansive roster of knitwear and cashmere. It additionally made good on its promise to maintain all of its manufacturing in Italy – that features silk-cashmere from Cariaggi, linen from one of many oldest mills within the nation, brushed cotton from Grandi & Rubinelli, pique from a historic mill in Veneto and full grain leather-based from Santa Croce, Tuscany.
Spend money on: although there’s loads to select from, we’ve heard that the model’s cashmere baseball cap (£195) is a favorite of Mr Faloni himself. Accessible lucafaloni.com.
lucafaloni.com
Herno
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Herno)
Herno launched in 1948 as a producer of raincoats that have been made waterproof with castor oil from planes deserted after the Second World Struggle. By the mid-Fifties the Italian model branched out into reversible, hand-woven cashmere coats, earlier than ultimately increasing into full-blown ladies’s, males’s and kids’s collections.
And, whereas Herno’s outerwear stays its signature, an enlargement of its knitwear division – together with a 2020-founded suite devoted to innovation and sustainable practices in knitwear – has made for some notably covetable outcomes. Spanning wool, cashmere and comfortable alpaca, the enveloping kinds embody pullover sweaters and cardigans, alongside sportier hybrid clothes which mix down padding with knitwear – a hard-working remaining layer primed for the cooler months forward.
Spend money on: the hybrid bomber jacket in woven cashmere with knitted sleeves – it seems like a cardigan however protects like a jacket (all of the extra so with its revolutionary water-repellant floor). Accessible herno.com.
herno.com
Studio Nicholson
Studio Nicolson A/W 2024 assortment
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Studio Nicholson)
Nick Wakeman’s London-based label Studio Nicholson is thought for its elegant, softly structured silhouettes and understated riffs on wardrobe staples, which draw inspiration from Japanese design, structure and modern furnishings. The truth that a big a part of Cate Blanchett’s wardrobe in Tár was designed by Studio Nicholson is emblematic of the kind of buyer the model attracts – folks with exacting, sensible however impossibly stylish style.
Studio Nicholson’s knitwear – one of many model’s highlights – is in line with these qualities. Its silhouettes are structured to ‘skim, slouch or cocoon the physique,’ whereas all of its yarn is sourced from Britain and is engineered to final all through an proprietor’s lifetime. We notably love the model’s ‘Gomes’ knit, maybe the proper roll-neck sweater – Lydia Tár would little question be a fan.
Spend money on: the slouchy roll-neck ‘Gomes’ knit, a Studio Nicholson signature, is a sweater you’ll put on on repeat this winter (and beats out kinds which can be double the value). Accessible studionicholson.com.
studionicholson.com
Brunello Cucinelli
Brunello Cucinelli A/W 2024 assortment
(Picture credit score: Courtesy of Brunello Cucinelli)
The namesake founding father of Brunello Cucinelli is called ‘the king of cashmere’ for good purpose. At solely 25 years previous, the younger Italian, who was then working as a vogue mannequin, determined he needed to make cashmere sweaters with fashionable cuts and vibrant colors. If that sounds regular now, it was a revolution in 1978, and inside a number of years, the standard of Cucinelli’s 53 cashmere sweaters was sufficient to kickstart a model that now consists of every part from fits to footwear.
One factor that has by no means modified, although, is the model’s dedication to distinctive craftsmanship. The model’s cashmere sweaters are after all a should, as are their cashmere mix blazers, which with their elegant cuts and comfortable materials, embody the insouciant class of Italian type.
Spend money on: although Brunello Cucinelli is perhaps identified for its basic beige and camel sweaters, their handmade opera knits (£4,100) – some adorned with 1000’s of miniature sequins – are a real paean to craft. Accessible net-a-porter.com.
brunellocucinelli.com
Supply: Wallpaper
