I’ve always associated Brora with luxury cashmere, but at their recent Autumn/Winter event I got to see another side to the brand. They have some really wonderful arran knits, in traditional cream but also fantastic prints. Brora have access to the Liberty archive, selecting prints and repurposing them in their own shades.

Gillian, one of their knitwear designers was kind enough to take me round the shop and was full of interesting information. Focusing on the punky mohair stripe jumper, one of my favourite pieces, I found out that it’s made from longer fibres than most jumpers out there so you wont get that really irritating scratchiness. The blue and black version isn’t just a plain blue, it’s a mix of cobalt, with a softer blue and a smattering of magenta/purple to make it really vibrant.

Victoria Stapleton, the company’s founder, touched on this when she gave a talk, she’ll go up to the mill in Scotland and unload a ton of debris/treasure like a shoe, or a leaf or a scrap of fabric to start bulding the colour palette for the season.

Back to Gillian, she explained that like some of the bigger luxury brands like Burberry and Pringle they too have an army of knitters who make pieces like the handknit baby cardigan. Her own grandmother is one of the knitters which is an indication of the loyalty and family atmosphere Brora have cultivated since taking over a mill in the village of the same name back in the ’90s.

A/W collection