Barrie is a Scottish company specialising in the production of cashmere collections. Founded in the

Borders A border is a geographical boundary. Border, borders, The Border or The Borders may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Border'' (1997 film), an Indian Hindi-language war film * ''Border'' (2018 Swedish film), ...

in 1903, Barrie was acquired by Chanel. in 2012. A “Barrie” brand was launched in 2014.

History

In 1903, Walter Barrie and Robert Kersel opened a factory specialised in the production of high-quality stockings. Located in

Hawick Hawick ( ; sco, Haaick; gd, Hamhaig) is a town in the Scottish Borders council area and historic county of Roxburghshire in the east Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is south-west of Jedburgh and south-south-east of Selkirk. It is one ...

, Barrie thus manufactured two-tone model designed by

Gabrielle Chanel Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel ( , ; 19 August 1883 – 10 January 1971) was a French fashion designer and businesswoman. The founder and namesake of the Chanel brand, she was credited in the post-World War I era with popularizing a sporty, c ...

in the 1920s. In 1962, the company took the name of Barrie Knitwear Ltd. In 1975, it moved to a new factory in Burnfoot specially designed for cashmere. Barrie started working for names in fashion such as Chanel, an activity that continues to this day. In October 2012, Barrie Knitwear Ltd was acquired by Chanel. Barrie presented its first own-label collection for fall-winter 2014–2015. Each collection is designed in the House of Barrie's design studio in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, and then produced in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. In 2014, Barrie opened its first shop in

, followed by a second in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Today, the brand is active in 22 countries.

Scottish tradition

Knitting was an important activity in the Scottish isles in the 17th and 18th centuries. Families generally made sweaters, socks and accessories. Wool contains natural oils that offered fishermen essential protection as they went off to sea. This activity was industrialized in 1771 with the arrival of four looms. In 1845, more than 2,000 of

's 2,605 looms were located in the Scottish Borders, and the city of

alone accounted for half of these.

The Barrie brand

Since the brand inaugurated its

studio in 2014, four collections per year have been designed in the French capital. Sketches are sent to the workshop in

, where the knitting machines are programmed according to the measurements and patterns of each garment. Barrie offers pullovers, cardigans, skirts, dresses, trousers, overcoats, T-shirts, beanies, gloves, etc. Some Barrie clothing and accessories are recognizable thanks to iconic thistle knitted in 3D. This technique makes bold stylistic innovation possible, enhancing knitwear with simple or sophisticated relief textures using tone-on-tone or contrasting colors. Buttons, manufactured by artisans such as the costume jeweler Desrues, Chanel's traditional supplier of buttons and accessories, are decorated or painted by hand to feature the Barrie logo in tone-on-tone porcelain. With the announcement of its new artistic director, Augustin Dol-Maillot, Barrie begins a new chapter in its history with its Spring-Summer 2019 Collection.

Transmission of expertise

The company established a training center in 2012 to help young people acquire the technical skills necessary to work for the company. Training runs 18-months or 2-years

References

External links

Official website
1903 establishments in Scotland 2012 disestablishments in Scotland Chanel Scottish brands Companies based in the Scottish Borders Clothing companies of Scotland Textile companies of the United Kingdom Hawick Cashmere wool Knitwear manufacturers British companies disestablished in 2012 British companies established in 1903 Manufacturing companies established in 1903 {{Scotland-company-stub