Isle of Harris Distillery launches its own tweed

June 25, 2021 | Fashion

In 2018, the Isle of Harris Distillery set out to discover more about the art of weaving and the skills of the people and mills who help bring the historic island textile known as Harris Tweed into being.

The distillery, along with Harris Tweed Hebrides, the Harris Tweed Authority and the islands’ education services worked closely with schools across the island as they set local schoolchildren the challenge of designing a new Isle of Harris Distillery tweed while learning about this special and historic cloth from the Outer Hebrides.

After months of workshops and working with local children the eventual winner was 14-year-old Scott Murray from S3 at Sir E. Scott School in the Isle of Harris.

Scott’s submission included an intriguing mood board with experimental yarn selection and pattern painting with carefully thought-out rationale of his influences.

Scott’s winning design was woven by the distillery’s own Stephen Passmore and last year, Isle of Harris Distillery collaborated with designer Judy R Clark to create an uniquely special Made To Measure jacket from this cloth.

The men’s made To order Harris Distillery Tweed jacket, which costs £660

Following the popularity of this limited edition, Isle of Harris Distillers and Judy R Clark are thrilled to announce the launch of two Made-To-Order jackets in the same style, sizes ranging from 6 – 18 for women and 36- 48 for men. A detailed size guide will be available on the website.

Lorna Macaulay, Harris Tweed Authority CEO says: ‘It is wonderful to collaborate with the Isle of Harris Distillery again, we have thoroughly enjoyed taking this project to life with them and seeing it develop from Scott’s original tweed design to Judy’s stylish jacket.’

Award winning designer Judy R Clark is famed for her exquisite hand tailored womenswear designs comprising of Harris Tweeds, Scottish lace and antique fabrics. Her work has travelled the globe showcasing in Japan, Italy, Russia, London, New York, Chicago and numerous platforms around the UK. Previously working for the late Alexander McQueen, Judy set up her own business when she returned to Scotland creating bespoke ranges.

Judy first began to use Harris Tweed when her grandmother, a native to the islands brought her back a suitcase full of vibrant tweeds on the boat which had been woven by her Uncle Donald; a weaver on the island. Judy brings an avant-garde twist to the cloth creating contemporary wears in her unique collections.

For this exclusive project Judy has been working with Alison MacDonald of Tiger Textiles in the Isle of Lewis. Alison has been working from her studio in Ness embroidering threads of rose gold on to sumptuous teal velvets for the hidden message, ‘Esse Quam Videri’ in the back collars.

Each jacket is made using specially woven Isle of Harris Distillery Harris Tweed combined with luxurious teal velvet collars embroidered in secret rose gold threads. The linings inspired by the Hebridean seas finished with rose copper buttons and contrasting sea blue buttonholes.

Judy says: ‘The Isle of Harris Distillery Collection has been such a wonderful project to work on, combining colours of the beautiful landscapes, blue seas and rose gold of the distillery has been a dream. The coats are contemporary and so wearable, with great attention to detail, each made by hand in Scotland.’

The Isle of Harris Distillery Tweed Made-to-Order Jackets will be available globally from today, June 25, from
Harrisdistillery.com, priced at £660 including UK postage. Further details on international postage will be available on the website. The option to try a sample jacket is available at the Isle of Harris Distillery. Each jacket, hand woven on the Isle of Harris and made in Scotland is ‘made to order’ in your chosen standard size and will take 10/12 weeks to arrive from when the order is placed.