Michael Tonello's Blog, page 26
March 30, 2014
Inside (or Behind) Every Hermes Bag Lies a Story...
...and I can certainly attest to that, I wrote an entire book about it. Recently I re-read Barbara Guggenheim's wonderful story about how she acquired her first Hermès bag and it got me to thinking that there must be a lot of other interesting stories out there not unlike Ms Guggenheim's. So, I'd like to invite my readers to share with me, share with all of us, any interesting stories you might have about your Hermès experiences. There are no rules, no guidelines and no one who will judge. You have the option of either posting your story in the Comment section of this post or you are welcome to email it to me and I'll post it as a new Blog Post. email to: bringinghomethebirkin@yahoo.com
March 29, 2014
Do You Love Hermes, Louis Vuitton Capucines? Then You Wil Adore Peter Nitz
Peter NitzMr Nitz is the read deal. Hermès and Vuitton love to talk the talk about hand craftsmanship and saddle-stitching, but good luck finding much of that nowadays in Hermès or Vuitton bags. Trust me, those days are long gone. (Yes, bits and pieces of Hermès are saddle-stitched but a typical leather Birkin or Kelly bag now utilize plenty of machine stitching.) You will never, and I do mean never, get Hermès or Vuitton to state on the record that a leather Birkin or Kelly or Capucines is entirely saddle-stiched - because they aren't.
Peter Nitz painstakingly saddle-stitches each and every piece that he personally bench makes, from start to finish. No machine stitching. No glue. Mr Nitz is the real deal....Hermès and Vuitton are all smoke and mirrors. When it comes to craftsmanship, Peter makes Hermès look like Vuitton. In the new pecking order Peter Nitz is #1.
Peter Nitz was born in Greenville, South Carolina. He attended college in Indiana prior to moving to Chicago to join an auction house as Assistant Director of Acquisitions. During this time in Chicago, his eye for quiet luxury was nurtured through his focus on fine European antiques and understated modern design, laying the foundation for the strong attention to detail and quality that defines his work today.
In 1997, Europe, with its bountiful antiques and time-honored traditions of craftsmanship, beckoned and Peter Nitz made the move to Zurich, Switzerland. The continent’s fascinating flea markets and antiques fairs inspired him to concentrate on discovering the skills of artisans whose hand-made creations remained timeless. He spent his evenings crafting jewelry, clothing, ceramics and furniture, pursuing a desire to produce pieces of superb design and quality. A weekend trip to Paris marked what Peter Nitz refers to as his «kismet encounter»: in search of the perfect wallet, he had the good fortune of meeting a retired craftsperson from Hermes, the fabled French luxury leather goods house. For two and half years, under the highly-skilled tutelage of the craftsperson, he learned the complex art of leather crafting by hand, determined to master centuries-old techniques that demand precision and patience.
This learning process refined Peter Nitz’s vision: his own atelier where he would shape and stitch the finest available skins entirely by hand and accent them with beautiful jewelry to create unique and precious handbags. The passion for perfecting his craft took him to several continents in a quest for the best producers of exotic skins, linen thread, hardware and other materials vital to the art of leatherworking. This journey ultimately lead him to fulfilling his dream: the launch of his own eponymous label. Peter Nitz Zurich – exquisite creations that blend rare skins and gems with sophisticated design and exceptional hand-craftsmanship.
http://www.peternitz.com/en/
March 28, 2014
Final Day: Hermes at Waterside Shops Naples FL Closes Today
Today yet another Hermès franchise store bites the dust. This store will be sadly missed. Missed for its exemplary customer service, well edited selection, and its knowledgeable uber friendly sales staff. Missed as an excuse to have a glass of Champagne with deviled eggs and sugar bacon at Bricktop's. Au revoir mes amis...
What do Chanel, Thom Browne, Hermes, Dior and YSL all have in Common?
Barrie KnitwearThe grey sandstone architecture of the Borders town seemingly has little in common with the air kissing and chiffon swishing of the fashion world, but there's a little secret tucked away- a fashion fan's dream - filled with covetable cashmere creations and designer labels. That place is Barrie Knitwear.
Inside the factory the noise - a mid-toned whir accompanied by the metronomic clunk of machinery - is almost deafening. Our voices are raised, but I still can't quite hear everything. Something to do with the beautiful cashmere jumpers being created line by perfectly knitted line in front of our eyes, I presume, but I can't be sure.
"Everything here is fully fashioned," says Barrie Knitwear sales director Clive Brown, his Borders accent just audible over the sound of the click and clack of the giant Bentley Cotton knitting machine we're leaning over. "Instead of being cut to shape it's knitted to shape." I gesture towards three blue elastic straps attached to some red cashmere with fierce-looking metal hooks. What are these? Instruments of woollen torture, perhaps? No, something about garment tension, Brown says, though I didn't catch the rest of the explanation. It's the noise, you see. It's deafening.
We move away from the din of the apparatus and pause at a row of white tables. "That's some of the Chanel Paris-Dallas collection," says Brown about a pile of boldly patterned cashmere, as though spotting bundles of expensive Chanel clothing (potentially worth thousands of euros per item) was an everyday occurrence. But then here, at the sprawling Barrie Knitwear factory on the outskirts of the largest town in the region, it is. There's Chanel everywhere: Chanel cardigans on the tables, Chanel jumpers being bound together by skilled workwomen and Chanel skirts hanging on the prototype rails. All crafted out of the most exquisite cashmere. In short, this is sartorial heaven, and it's right here in the Scottish Borders.
Not that anyone in the factory has stars in their eyes. The company, established in 1903 by Walter Barrie and Robert Kersel, has been working with Chanel to manufacture cashmere garments for around 25 years. They also continue to produce cashmere clothing for designer brands such as Hermes, Dior and Yves Saint Laurent. In October 2012 the relationship between Barrie and Chanel blossomed into marriage, when Chanel agreed to buy Barrie for a sum reportedly running into seven figures, though nobody involved in the transaction has ever confirmed the price. Barrie's then owner, former textile giant Dawson, was in administration and the future of the Hawick knitwear factory remained uncertain.
Bruno Pavlovsky, Chanel fashion president, said at the time: "The acquisition of Barrie by Chanel is all the more natural as the factory has worked with us for more than 25 years, producing cashmere knitwear including Chanel's iconic two-tone cashmere cardigans. Through this acquisition, we reaffirm our commitment to traditional expertise and craftsmanship."
Chanel celebrated the acquisition a few months later by holding its famous annual Metiers d'Art fashion show in Linlithgow Palace. The evening was described by those in the Barrie factory fortunate enough to have been invited as "incredible". In attendance were some of the most influential names in fashion such as British Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman, who witnessed the showcase of garments including a series of cashmere pieces created by Barrie.
A year and a half on from the acquisition and I've come to Hawick to find out what - if any - difference the Chanel buyout has made. At the time of the deal commentators hailed it as great news for Barrie. It would, they said, secure the future of the company and ensure it would continue to produce top-quality cashmere.
Have those prophecies come true? Brown and the staff - those I meet, at least - think so. "In a very uncertain world it's given people stability," says Brown, who has worked in the Scottish knitwear industry for 30 years and been the sales director at Barrie for the past decade.
Since it was bought by Chanel the company has taken on 20 staff (it now employs around 190 people) and bought six new computerised knitting machines to bring the factory total to around 30. But, says Brown, "it's not just about financial stability to buy machines; it's about stability for the town and that people can see we're growing the business".
There certainly appears to be a steady flow of work. Barrie produces six collections a year for Chanel, besides lines for other clients such as Hermes and American label Thom Browne. The factory has also started producing Barrie's own label, a 20-piece collection of brightly patterned cashmere separates by Odile Massuger, who is also part of the Chanel knitwear team, that will be sold in the world's most exclusive boutiques. Barrie has created some of its own classic cashmere designs in the past, but these garments will see the knitwear company take its first steps into the world of high fashion.
Already featured on Style.com, the American-based website, the Barrie label is being tipped for success. The first collection has also got the all-important seal of approval from Karl Lagerfeld. The Chanel creative director photographed the campaign images - which feature Phil Collins's daughter, the model Lily Collins - ensuring Barrie's first major solo foray into the marketplace will be as glamorous as it is high-profile.
Brown, for one, is impressed with how the French fashion house has managed Barrie so far. "The new Barrie collection shows the intention our owners have with the business - not only with the couturier but with our own brand as well," he says. "Everything they've done is about growing the business - it's not about only making Chanel product. They want us to work with other couturiers and grow our own brands."
Getting that message out is crucial for Barrie's success. Since the Chanel acquisition Barrie has also started a training scheme to give young people the technical skills required to work in the factory, a programme which takes between 18 months and two years. While attracting young people to apply for jobs is essential, given the decline in the rest of the Borders textiles industry and the perceived instability of jobs it is seldom easy.
"The workers are the heart and soul of the business," says Brown, who started his working life as a garment washer at knitwear label Glenmac. "In total in the textile industry in the Borders I believe 15 years ago there were 9000 people working and I believe now there are fewer than 1000. So we're one of the biggest employers. [The decline is] frightening. That's not just in fully-fashioned knitwear, it's in tweeds, in wovens - in everything."
At Barrie, though, decline is the last thing on anyone's mind. Instead the factory, a large, modernspace that almost sparkles with cleanliness, has more offers of work than it can take on. Brown and managing director Jim Carrie are attracting local youngsters into the business once again - the training scheme offers from four to six positions each year - but there are still obstacles to overcome.
"We're starting to get youngsters but it's difficult because so many people lost their jobs in the industry in the last 20 years," says Brown. "Mums and dads are saying: 'Don't go into that industry.' That's why we're working with the schools and colleges to say there is a future."
Back on the factory floor, we've moved away from the mechanistic symphony into the comparatively peaceful programming room, where employees Craig and Mark (Brown knows everyone in the factory by their first name, and a few by playful nicknames) are plotting complex patterns on computer screens ready to be transferred to the high-tech Japanese-made knitting machines which produce some of the company's most technical designs.
Conversation turns to the recent Chanel autumn/winter 2014-15 catwalk show at the Grand Palais in Paris. By all accounts it was a visual feast, which saw the glass-domed building transformed into a Chanel-themed supermarket at the behest of Lagerfeld. There were Chanel-branded DIY products, doormats, fresh produce and even ketchup. The clothes - food-themed, naturally - were a riot of colour, pattern and texture.
One of the looks, a purple and pink knitted trouser and top ensemble inspired by beetroot, was created with the help of the pattern programming team at Barrie. "Mark did the beetroot," says Craig with a shrug after we've leafed through some of the other vegetable-inspired knitwear designs the Barrie team worked on. Brown explains: "We get a theme given to us and the guys in here have to give their interpretation of it. The knitting technicians come up with a silhouette, but Craig, Mark and the guys in here, their brains come up with some kind of idea for the fabric, and then we send those ideas to the studio. For instance, with the supermarket collection, Chanel said to us: 'We need pullovers that are like carrots, beetroot, kale.'"
The close relationship between Barrie's in-house team and the studio at Chanel is fairly uncommon in the industry. That Barrie's team can have so much influence over what appears on the Chanel catwalk is unusual, and testament to the Hawick company's skill. Even the Chanel press officer, who accompanies me on the tour, is impressed. "That's incredible," she enthuses.
Brown continues: "That's one of the reasons the relationship has worked for so many years - the studio trust in what we do here, and they know whatever happens they get a result."
At the other end of the factory, in what's known as the finishing area, more of Barrie's impressive hand skills are on display. Components of Chanel garments are being stitched together by a team of workers. At one end of the room two women are hand-cutting necklines into red cashmere jumpers with scissors, one of them cutting with such speed and skill that it's easy to forget each of these designer pieces will be sold for hundreds of pounds.
The press officer asks an obvious question: "What happens if she makes a mistake?" Brown pauses then says two words which not only answer the question, but also perhaps explain why Barrie Knitwear continues to be a force to be reckoned with in the fashion and textiles industry after more than 110 years. "She doesn't."
http://www.heraldscotland.com/fashion...
Inside the factory the noise - a mid-toned whir accompanied by the metronomic clunk of machinery - is almost deafening. Our voices are raised, but I still can't quite hear everything. Something to do with the beautiful cashmere jumpers being created line by perfectly knitted line in front of our eyes, I presume, but I can't be sure.
"Everything here is fully fashioned," says Barrie Knitwear sales director Clive Brown, his Borders accent just audible over the sound of the click and clack of the giant Bentley Cotton knitting machine we're leaning over. "Instead of being cut to shape it's knitted to shape." I gesture towards three blue elastic straps attached to some red cashmere with fierce-looking metal hooks. What are these? Instruments of woollen torture, perhaps? No, something about garment tension, Brown says, though I didn't catch the rest of the explanation. It's the noise, you see. It's deafening.
We move away from the din of the apparatus and pause at a row of white tables. "That's some of the Chanel Paris-Dallas collection," says Brown about a pile of boldly patterned cashmere, as though spotting bundles of expensive Chanel clothing (potentially worth thousands of euros per item) was an everyday occurrence. But then here, at the sprawling Barrie Knitwear factory on the outskirts of the largest town in the region, it is. There's Chanel everywhere: Chanel cardigans on the tables, Chanel jumpers being bound together by skilled workwomen and Chanel skirts hanging on the prototype rails. All crafted out of the most exquisite cashmere. In short, this is sartorial heaven, and it's right here in the Scottish Borders.
Not that anyone in the factory has stars in their eyes. The company, established in 1903 by Walter Barrie and Robert Kersel, has been working with Chanel to manufacture cashmere garments for around 25 years. They also continue to produce cashmere clothing for designer brands such as Hermes, Dior and Yves Saint Laurent. In October 2012 the relationship between Barrie and Chanel blossomed into marriage, when Chanel agreed to buy Barrie for a sum reportedly running into seven figures, though nobody involved in the transaction has ever confirmed the price. Barrie's then owner, former textile giant Dawson, was in administration and the future of the Hawick knitwear factory remained uncertain.
Bruno Pavlovsky, Chanel fashion president, said at the time: "The acquisition of Barrie by Chanel is all the more natural as the factory has worked with us for more than 25 years, producing cashmere knitwear including Chanel's iconic two-tone cashmere cardigans. Through this acquisition, we reaffirm our commitment to traditional expertise and craftsmanship."
Chanel celebrated the acquisition a few months later by holding its famous annual Metiers d'Art fashion show in Linlithgow Palace. The evening was described by those in the Barrie factory fortunate enough to have been invited as "incredible". In attendance were some of the most influential names in fashion such as British Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman, who witnessed the showcase of garments including a series of cashmere pieces created by Barrie.
A year and a half on from the acquisition and I've come to Hawick to find out what - if any - difference the Chanel buyout has made. At the time of the deal commentators hailed it as great news for Barrie. It would, they said, secure the future of the company and ensure it would continue to produce top-quality cashmere.
Have those prophecies come true? Brown and the staff - those I meet, at least - think so. "In a very uncertain world it's given people stability," says Brown, who has worked in the Scottish knitwear industry for 30 years and been the sales director at Barrie for the past decade.
Since it was bought by Chanel the company has taken on 20 staff (it now employs around 190 people) and bought six new computerised knitting machines to bring the factory total to around 30. But, says Brown, "it's not just about financial stability to buy machines; it's about stability for the town and that people can see we're growing the business".
There certainly appears to be a steady flow of work. Barrie produces six collections a year for Chanel, besides lines for other clients such as Hermes and American label Thom Browne. The factory has also started producing Barrie's own label, a 20-piece collection of brightly patterned cashmere separates by Odile Massuger, who is also part of the Chanel knitwear team, that will be sold in the world's most exclusive boutiques. Barrie has created some of its own classic cashmere designs in the past, but these garments will see the knitwear company take its first steps into the world of high fashion.
Already featured on Style.com, the American-based website, the Barrie label is being tipped for success. The first collection has also got the all-important seal of approval from Karl Lagerfeld. The Chanel creative director photographed the campaign images - which feature Phil Collins's daughter, the model Lily Collins - ensuring Barrie's first major solo foray into the marketplace will be as glamorous as it is high-profile.
Brown, for one, is impressed with how the French fashion house has managed Barrie so far. "The new Barrie collection shows the intention our owners have with the business - not only with the couturier but with our own brand as well," he says. "Everything they've done is about growing the business - it's not about only making Chanel product. They want us to work with other couturiers and grow our own brands."
Getting that message out is crucial for Barrie's success. Since the Chanel acquisition Barrie has also started a training scheme to give young people the technical skills required to work in the factory, a programme which takes between 18 months and two years. While attracting young people to apply for jobs is essential, given the decline in the rest of the Borders textiles industry and the perceived instability of jobs it is seldom easy.
"The workers are the heart and soul of the business," says Brown, who started his working life as a garment washer at knitwear label Glenmac. "In total in the textile industry in the Borders I believe 15 years ago there were 9000 people working and I believe now there are fewer than 1000. So we're one of the biggest employers. [The decline is] frightening. That's not just in fully-fashioned knitwear, it's in tweeds, in wovens - in everything."
At Barrie, though, decline is the last thing on anyone's mind. Instead the factory, a large, modernspace that almost sparkles with cleanliness, has more offers of work than it can take on. Brown and managing director Jim Carrie are attracting local youngsters into the business once again - the training scheme offers from four to six positions each year - but there are still obstacles to overcome.
"We're starting to get youngsters but it's difficult because so many people lost their jobs in the industry in the last 20 years," says Brown. "Mums and dads are saying: 'Don't go into that industry.' That's why we're working with the schools and colleges to say there is a future."
Back on the factory floor, we've moved away from the mechanistic symphony into the comparatively peaceful programming room, where employees Craig and Mark (Brown knows everyone in the factory by their first name, and a few by playful nicknames) are plotting complex patterns on computer screens ready to be transferred to the high-tech Japanese-made knitting machines which produce some of the company's most technical designs.
Conversation turns to the recent Chanel autumn/winter 2014-15 catwalk show at the Grand Palais in Paris. By all accounts it was a visual feast, which saw the glass-domed building transformed into a Chanel-themed supermarket at the behest of Lagerfeld. There were Chanel-branded DIY products, doormats, fresh produce and even ketchup. The clothes - food-themed, naturally - were a riot of colour, pattern and texture.
One of the looks, a purple and pink knitted trouser and top ensemble inspired by beetroot, was created with the help of the pattern programming team at Barrie. "Mark did the beetroot," says Craig with a shrug after we've leafed through some of the other vegetable-inspired knitwear designs the Barrie team worked on. Brown explains: "We get a theme given to us and the guys in here have to give their interpretation of it. The knitting technicians come up with a silhouette, but Craig, Mark and the guys in here, their brains come up with some kind of idea for the fabric, and then we send those ideas to the studio. For instance, with the supermarket collection, Chanel said to us: 'We need pullovers that are like carrots, beetroot, kale.'"
The close relationship between Barrie's in-house team and the studio at Chanel is fairly uncommon in the industry. That Barrie's team can have so much influence over what appears on the Chanel catwalk is unusual, and testament to the Hawick company's skill. Even the Chanel press officer, who accompanies me on the tour, is impressed. "That's incredible," she enthuses.
Brown continues: "That's one of the reasons the relationship has worked for so many years - the studio trust in what we do here, and they know whatever happens they get a result."
At the other end of the factory, in what's known as the finishing area, more of Barrie's impressive hand skills are on display. Components of Chanel garments are being stitched together by a team of workers. At one end of the room two women are hand-cutting necklines into red cashmere jumpers with scissors, one of them cutting with such speed and skill that it's easy to forget each of these designer pieces will be sold for hundreds of pounds.
The press officer asks an obvious question: "What happens if she makes a mistake?" Brown pauses then says two words which not only answer the question, but also perhaps explain why Barrie Knitwear continues to be a force to be reckoned with in the fashion and textiles industry after more than 110 years. "She doesn't."
http://www.heraldscotland.com/fashion...
What do Chanel, Hermes, Dior and YSL all have in Common?
Barrie KnitwearThe grey sandstone architecture of the Borders town seemingly has little in common with the air kissing and chiffon swishing of the fashion world, but there's a little secret tucked away- a fashion fan's dream - filled with covetable cashmere creations and designer labels. That place is Barrie Knitwear.
Inside the factory the noise - a mid-toned whir accompanied by the metronomic clunk of machinery - is almost deafening. Our voices are raised, but I still can't quite hear everything. Something to do with the beautiful cashmere jumpers being created line by perfectly knitted line in front of our eyes, I presume, but I can't be sure.
"Everything here is fully fashioned," says Barrie Knitwear sales director Clive Brown, his Borders accent just audible over the sound of the click and clack of the giant Bentley Cotton knitting machine we're leaning over. "Instead of being cut to shape it's knitted to shape." I gesture towards three blue elastic straps attached to some red cashmere with fierce-looking metal hooks. What are these? Instruments of woollen torture, perhaps? No, something about garment tension, Brown says, though I didn't catch the rest of the explanation. It's the noise, you see. It's deafening.
We move away from the din of the apparatus and pause at a row of white tables. "That's some of the Chanel Paris-Dallas collection," says Brown about a pile of boldly patterned cashmere, as though spotting bundles of expensive Chanel clothing (potentially worth thousands of euros per item) was an everyday occurrence. But then here, at the sprawling Barrie Knitwear factory on the outskirts of the largest town in the region, it is. There's Chanel everywhere: Chanel cardigans on the tables, Chanel jumpers being bound together by skilled workwomen and Chanel skirts hanging on the prototype rails. All crafted out of the most exquisite cashmere. In short, this is sartorial heaven, and it's right here in the Scottish Borders.
Not that anyone in the factory has stars in their eyes. The company, established in 1903 by Walter Barrie and Robert Kersel, has been working with Chanel to manufacture cashmere garments for around 25 years. They also continue to produce cashmere clothing for designer brands such as Hermes, Dior and Yves Saint Laurent. In October 2012 the relationship between Barrie and Chanel blossomed into marriage, when Chanel agreed to buy Barrie for a sum reportedly running into seven figures, though nobody involved in the transaction has ever confirmed the price. Barrie's then owner, former textile giant Dawson, was in administration and the future of the Hawick knitwear factory remained uncertain.
Bruno Pavlovsky, Chanel fashion president, said at the time: "The acquisition of Barrie by Chanel is all the more natural as the factory has worked with us for more than 25 years, producing cashmere knitwear including Chanel's iconic two-tone cashmere cardigans. Through this acquisition, we reaffirm our commitment to traditional expertise and craftsmanship."
Chanel celebrated the acquisition a few months later by holding its famous annual Metiers d'Art fashion show in Linlithgow Palace. The evening was described by those in the Barrie factory fortunate enough to have been invited as "incredible". In attendance were some of the most influential names in fashion such as British Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman, who witnessed the showcase of garments including a series of cashmere pieces created by Barrie.
A year and a half on from the acquisition and I've come to Hawick to find out what - if any - difference the Chanel buyout has made. At the time of the deal commentators hailed it as great news for Barrie. It would, they said, secure the future of the company and ensure it would continue to produce top-quality cashmere.
Have those prophecies come true? Brown and the staff - those I meet, at least - think so. "In a very uncertain world it's given people stability," says Brown, who has worked in the Scottish knitwear industry for 30 years and been the sales director at Barrie for the past decade.
Since it was bought by Chanel the company has taken on 20 staff (it now employs around 190 people) and bought six new computerised knitting machines to bring the factory total to around 30. But, says Brown, "it's not just about financial stability to buy machines; it's about stability for the town and that people can see we're growing the business".
There certainly appears to be a steady flow of work. Barrie produces six collections a year for Chanel, besides lines for other clients such as Hermes and American label Thom Browne. The factory has also started producing Barrie's own label, a 20-piece collection of brightly patterned cashmere separates by Odile Massuger, who is also part of the Chanel knitwear team, that will be sold in the world's most exclusive boutiques. Barrie has created some of its own classic cashmere designs in the past, but these garments will see the knitwear company take its first steps into the world of high fashion.
Already featured on Style.com, the American-based website, the Barrie label is being tipped for success. The first collection has also got the all-important seal of approval from Karl Lagerfeld. The Chanel creative director photographed the campaign images - which feature Phil Collins's daughter, the model Lily Collins - ensuring Barrie's first major solo foray into the marketplace will be as glamorous as it is high-profile.
Brown, for one, is impressed with how the French fashion house has managed Barrie so far. "The new Barrie collection shows the intention our owners have with the business - not only with the couturier but with our own brand as well," he says. "Everything they've done is about growing the business - it's not about only making Chanel product. They want us to work with other couturiers and grow our own brands."
Getting that message out is crucial for Barrie's success. Since the Chanel acquisition Barrie has also started a training scheme to give young people the technical skills required to work in the factory, a programme which takes between 18 months and two years. While attracting young people to apply for jobs is essential, given the decline in the rest of the Borders textiles industry and the perceived instability of jobs it is seldom easy.
"The workers are the heart and soul of the business," says Brown, who started his working life as a garment washer at knitwear label Glenmac. "In total in the textile industry in the Borders I believe 15 years ago there were 9000 people working and I believe now there are fewer than 1000. So we're one of the biggest employers. [The decline is] frightening. That's not just in fully-fashioned knitwear, it's in tweeds, in wovens - in everything."
At Barrie, though, decline is the last thing on anyone's mind. Instead the factory, a large, modernspace that almost sparkles with cleanliness, has more offers of work than it can take on. Brown and managing director Jim Carrie are attracting local youngsters into the business once again - the training scheme offers from four to six positions each year - but there are still obstacles to overcome.
"We're starting to get youngsters but it's difficult because so many people lost their jobs in the industry in the last 20 years," says Brown. "Mums and dads are saying: 'Don't go into that industry.' That's why we're working with the schools and colleges to say there is a future."
Back on the factory floor, we've moved away from the mechanistic symphony into the comparatively peaceful programming room, where employees Craig and Mark (Brown knows everyone in the factory by their first name, and a few by playful nicknames) are plotting complex patterns on computer screens ready to be transferred to the high-tech Japanese-made knitting machines which produce some of the company's most technical designs.
Conversation turns to the recent Chanel autumn/winter 2014-15 catwalk show at the Grand Palais in Paris. By all accounts it was a visual feast, which saw the glass-domed building transformed into a Chanel-themed supermarket at the behest of Lagerfeld. There were Chanel-branded DIY products, doormats, fresh produce and even ketchup. The clothes - food-themed, naturally - were a riot of colour, pattern and texture.
One of the looks, a purple and pink knitted trouser and top ensemble inspired by beetroot, was created with the help of the pattern programming team at Barrie. "Mark did the beetroot," says Craig with a shrug after we've leafed through some of the other vegetable-inspired knitwear designs the Barrie team worked on. Brown explains: "We get a theme given to us and the guys in here have to give their interpretation of it. The knitting technicians come up with a silhouette, but Craig, Mark and the guys in here, their brains come up with some kind of idea for the fabric, and then we send those ideas to the studio. For instance, with the supermarket collection, Chanel said to us: 'We need pullovers that are like carrots, beetroot, kale.'"
The close relationship between Barrie's in-house team and the studio at Chanel is fairly uncommon in the industry. That Barrie's team can have so much influence over what appears on the Chanel catwalk is unusual, and testament to the Hawick company's skill. Even the Chanel press officer, who accompanies me on the tour, is impressed. "That's incredible," she enthuses.
Brown continues: "That's one of the reasons the relationship has worked for so many years - the studio trust in what we do here, and they know whatever happens they get a result."
At the other end of the factory, in what's known as the finishing area, more of Barrie's impressive hand skills are on display. Components of Chanel garments are being stitched together by a team of workers. At one end of the room two women are hand-cutting necklines into red cashmere jumpers with scissors, one of them cutting with such speed and skill that it's easy to forget each of these designer pieces will be sold for hundreds of pounds.
The press officer asks an obvious question: "What happens if she makes a mistake?" Brown pauses then says two words which not only answer the question, but also perhaps explain why Barrie Knitwear continues to be a force to be reckoned with in the fashion and textiles industry after more than 110 years. "She doesn't."
http://www.heraldscotland.com/fashion...
Inside the factory the noise - a mid-toned whir accompanied by the metronomic clunk of machinery - is almost deafening. Our voices are raised, but I still can't quite hear everything. Something to do with the beautiful cashmere jumpers being created line by perfectly knitted line in front of our eyes, I presume, but I can't be sure.
"Everything here is fully fashioned," says Barrie Knitwear sales director Clive Brown, his Borders accent just audible over the sound of the click and clack of the giant Bentley Cotton knitting machine we're leaning over. "Instead of being cut to shape it's knitted to shape." I gesture towards three blue elastic straps attached to some red cashmere with fierce-looking metal hooks. What are these? Instruments of woollen torture, perhaps? No, something about garment tension, Brown says, though I didn't catch the rest of the explanation. It's the noise, you see. It's deafening.
We move away from the din of the apparatus and pause at a row of white tables. "That's some of the Chanel Paris-Dallas collection," says Brown about a pile of boldly patterned cashmere, as though spotting bundles of expensive Chanel clothing (potentially worth thousands of euros per item) was an everyday occurrence. But then here, at the sprawling Barrie Knitwear factory on the outskirts of the largest town in the region, it is. There's Chanel everywhere: Chanel cardigans on the tables, Chanel jumpers being bound together by skilled workwomen and Chanel skirts hanging on the prototype rails. All crafted out of the most exquisite cashmere. In short, this is sartorial heaven, and it's right here in the Scottish Borders.
Not that anyone in the factory has stars in their eyes. The company, established in 1903 by Walter Barrie and Robert Kersel, has been working with Chanel to manufacture cashmere garments for around 25 years. They also continue to produce cashmere clothing for designer brands such as Hermes, Dior and Yves Saint Laurent. In October 2012 the relationship between Barrie and Chanel blossomed into marriage, when Chanel agreed to buy Barrie for a sum reportedly running into seven figures, though nobody involved in the transaction has ever confirmed the price. Barrie's then owner, former textile giant Dawson, was in administration and the future of the Hawick knitwear factory remained uncertain.
Bruno Pavlovsky, Chanel fashion president, said at the time: "The acquisition of Barrie by Chanel is all the more natural as the factory has worked with us for more than 25 years, producing cashmere knitwear including Chanel's iconic two-tone cashmere cardigans. Through this acquisition, we reaffirm our commitment to traditional expertise and craftsmanship."
Chanel celebrated the acquisition a few months later by holding its famous annual Metiers d'Art fashion show in Linlithgow Palace. The evening was described by those in the Barrie factory fortunate enough to have been invited as "incredible". In attendance were some of the most influential names in fashion such as British Vogue editor Alexandra Shulman, who witnessed the showcase of garments including a series of cashmere pieces created by Barrie.
A year and a half on from the acquisition and I've come to Hawick to find out what - if any - difference the Chanel buyout has made. At the time of the deal commentators hailed it as great news for Barrie. It would, they said, secure the future of the company and ensure it would continue to produce top-quality cashmere.
Have those prophecies come true? Brown and the staff - those I meet, at least - think so. "In a very uncertain world it's given people stability," says Brown, who has worked in the Scottish knitwear industry for 30 years and been the sales director at Barrie for the past decade.
Since it was bought by Chanel the company has taken on 20 staff (it now employs around 190 people) and bought six new computerised knitting machines to bring the factory total to around 30. But, says Brown, "it's not just about financial stability to buy machines; it's about stability for the town and that people can see we're growing the business".
There certainly appears to be a steady flow of work. Barrie produces six collections a year for Chanel, besides lines for other clients such as Hermes and American label Thom Browne. The factory has also started producing Barrie's own label, a 20-piece collection of brightly patterned cashmere separates by Odile Massuger, who is also part of the Chanel knitwear team, that will be sold in the world's most exclusive boutiques. Barrie has created some of its own classic cashmere designs in the past, but these garments will see the knitwear company take its first steps into the world of high fashion.
Already featured on Style.com, the American-based website, the Barrie label is being tipped for success. The first collection has also got the all-important seal of approval from Karl Lagerfeld. The Chanel creative director photographed the campaign images - which feature Phil Collins's daughter, the model Lily Collins - ensuring Barrie's first major solo foray into the marketplace will be as glamorous as it is high-profile.
Brown, for one, is impressed with how the French fashion house has managed Barrie so far. "The new Barrie collection shows the intention our owners have with the business - not only with the couturier but with our own brand as well," he says. "Everything they've done is about growing the business - it's not about only making Chanel product. They want us to work with other couturiers and grow our own brands."
Getting that message out is crucial for Barrie's success. Since the Chanel acquisition Barrie has also started a training scheme to give young people the technical skills required to work in the factory, a programme which takes between 18 months and two years. While attracting young people to apply for jobs is essential, given the decline in the rest of the Borders textiles industry and the perceived instability of jobs it is seldom easy.
"The workers are the heart and soul of the business," says Brown, who started his working life as a garment washer at knitwear label Glenmac. "In total in the textile industry in the Borders I believe 15 years ago there were 9000 people working and I believe now there are fewer than 1000. So we're one of the biggest employers. [The decline is] frightening. That's not just in fully-fashioned knitwear, it's in tweeds, in wovens - in everything."
At Barrie, though, decline is the last thing on anyone's mind. Instead the factory, a large, modernspace that almost sparkles with cleanliness, has more offers of work than it can take on. Brown and managing director Jim Carrie are attracting local youngsters into the business once again - the training scheme offers from four to six positions each year - but there are still obstacles to overcome.
"We're starting to get youngsters but it's difficult because so many people lost their jobs in the industry in the last 20 years," says Brown. "Mums and dads are saying: 'Don't go into that industry.' That's why we're working with the schools and colleges to say there is a future."
Back on the factory floor, we've moved away from the mechanistic symphony into the comparatively peaceful programming room, where employees Craig and Mark (Brown knows everyone in the factory by their first name, and a few by playful nicknames) are plotting complex patterns on computer screens ready to be transferred to the high-tech Japanese-made knitting machines which produce some of the company's most technical designs.
Conversation turns to the recent Chanel autumn/winter 2014-15 catwalk show at the Grand Palais in Paris. By all accounts it was a visual feast, which saw the glass-domed building transformed into a Chanel-themed supermarket at the behest of Lagerfeld. There were Chanel-branded DIY products, doormats, fresh produce and even ketchup. The clothes - food-themed, naturally - were a riot of colour, pattern and texture.
One of the looks, a purple and pink knitted trouser and top ensemble inspired by beetroot, was created with the help of the pattern programming team at Barrie. "Mark did the beetroot," says Craig with a shrug after we've leafed through some of the other vegetable-inspired knitwear designs the Barrie team worked on. Brown explains: "We get a theme given to us and the guys in here have to give their interpretation of it. The knitting technicians come up with a silhouette, but Craig, Mark and the guys in here, their brains come up with some kind of idea for the fabric, and then we send those ideas to the studio. For instance, with the supermarket collection, Chanel said to us: 'We need pullovers that are like carrots, beetroot, kale.'"
The close relationship between Barrie's in-house team and the studio at Chanel is fairly uncommon in the industry. That Barrie's team can have so much influence over what appears on the Chanel catwalk is unusual, and testament to the Hawick company's skill. Even the Chanel press officer, who accompanies me on the tour, is impressed. "That's incredible," she enthuses.
Brown continues: "That's one of the reasons the relationship has worked for so many years - the studio trust in what we do here, and they know whatever happens they get a result."
At the other end of the factory, in what's known as the finishing area, more of Barrie's impressive hand skills are on display. Components of Chanel garments are being stitched together by a team of workers. At one end of the room two women are hand-cutting necklines into red cashmere jumpers with scissors, one of them cutting with such speed and skill that it's easy to forget each of these designer pieces will be sold for hundreds of pounds.
The press officer asks an obvious question: "What happens if she makes a mistake?" Brown pauses then says two words which not only answer the question, but also perhaps explain why Barrie Knitwear continues to be a force to be reckoned with in the fashion and textiles industry after more than 110 years. "She doesn't."
http://www.heraldscotland.com/fashion...
March 27, 2014
Flynn Bloom & Miranda Kerr with Birkin bag
Supermodel Miranda Kerr with son Flynn Bloom (Orlando Bloom's the Dad).
Real People, Real Hermes: Celine Kaplan NYC Fashion Publicist
WHO Celine Kaplan, a fashion publicist.
WHAT SHE WORE Prada top, Versace for H&M skirt, Céline jacket, Jimmy Choo heels and Oliver Peoples sunglasses. And a gold helmet from Cyclechic. Hermès Kelly Bag.
WHAT SHE WAS THINKING Sick of winter? That’s an understatement. Enough already. I started buying spring pieces in the beginning of February, which is unusual for me. I got this Prada top then. These Jimmy Choos are great. They’ll go with everything. I saw them in a window when I was on a Citi Bike. (I take Citi Bike everywhere, wearing two pairs of gloves when it’s cold.) I like wearing a really gauzy top and pretending like it’s sunny and lovely. I’ll have a jacket and a coat on top.
Credit: Elizabeth Lippman for The New York Times
WHAT SHE WORE Prada top, Versace for H&M skirt, Céline jacket, Jimmy Choo heels and Oliver Peoples sunglasses. And a gold helmet from Cyclechic. Hermès Kelly Bag.
WHAT SHE WAS THINKING Sick of winter? That’s an understatement. Enough already. I started buying spring pieces in the beginning of February, which is unusual for me. I got this Prada top then. These Jimmy Choos are great. They’ll go with everything. I saw them in a window when I was on a Citi Bike. (I take Citi Bike everywhere, wearing two pairs of gloves when it’s cold.) I like wearing a really gauzy top and pretending like it’s sunny and lovely. I’ll have a jacket and a coat on top.
Credit: Elizabeth Lippman for The New York Times
