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“Whenever you see tweed on the runway, you don’t anticipate it to return from right here,” joked 38-year-old former banker Alexander MacLeod as he arrange his loom in a transformed barn on the shores of a Scottish loch.
MacLeod turned a weaver two years in the past, becoming a member of residents on the islands of Lewis and Harris, off Scotland’s north-west coast, in serving to to rejuvenate the tweed business after a big interval of decline.
“It’s factor to maintain the custom going.”
Tweed is an emblem of Scottish heritage and has “at all times been a part of the tradition” on the Outer Hebrides, added MacLeod, who hails from the island of Scalpay, which is related to Harris by a bridge.
It’s now “a beautiful sector to be in”, he mentioned.
He left the Hebrides for seven years to work in banking, however the pull of his roots proved too robust.
In the course of the day, MacLeod now works for a small native cosmetics firm. Within the evenings, he places on a podcast and patiently begins to weave.
Solely the regular hum of his machine disturbs the calm of the outdated stone barn.
Harris Tweed, historically constituted of 100% wool, is the one material protected by a 1993 Act of Parliament.
It have to be “handwoven by the islanders at their houses within the Outer Hebrides, completed within the Outer Hebrides, and constituted of pure new wool dyed and spun within the Outer Hebrides”.
The weaver spoke of his “satisfaction” as soon as the tweed is completed.
The tweed, as soon as related to the British aristocracy, goes to the spinning mill for a high quality management test, the place the slightest flaw is flagged up.
Lastly, it receives the valuable “Harris Tweed” stamp – a globe topped with a cross – certifying the material’s provenance and authenticity, issued by the Harris Tweed Authority (HTA).
The tweed then leaves the island for procurement by discerning corporations overseas, together with luxurious manufacturers resembling Christian Dior, Chanel, and Gucci.
A number of coach manufacturers, resembling Nike, New Stability, and Converse, have additionally used it for restricted version merchandise.
The standard staples are jackets, caps, and baggage, however the material can be used for furnishings.
There are 140 weavers, in accordance with the HTA, which launched a recruitment marketing campaign in 2023 and provided workshops to be taught the commerce following a wave of retirements.
This know-how, usually handed down from era to era, is now being nurtured by a distinct profile of weaver.
“It’s good to see youthful folks coming in,” mentioned Kelly MacDonald, director of operations on the HTA.
“After I joined the business 22 years in the past, there was a extreme interval of decline. I used to be questioning: ‘Is there going to be an business any extra?’”
However the business is now having fun with a “resurgence” and “important development”, with greater than 580,000 metres of tweed produced in 2024.
“We’re at all times new markets,” she mentioned, and tweed is now exported to South Korea, Japan, Germany, France and different international locations.
It’s now not depending on the US market, because it as soon as was, and must be largely shielded from the tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump.
Tweed has “modernised”, mentioned Cameron MacArthur, who works at Carloway Mill, one of many three spinning mills within the west of the Isle of Lewis.
He’s solely 29, however has already labored there for 12 years.
The mill, with its massive machines, appears to be like as if it has not modified for many years. However MacArthur has seen it evolve to embrace a youthful workforce and newer materials, that means it’s now not simply the ultra-classic Prince of Wales checks or darkish colors which might be on provide.
“These days, we’re allowed to make up our personal colors … and we’re simply doing various things with it, modernising it, making it brighter,” he mentioned, displaying off rolls of turquoise blue and fuchsia pink.
“We’re so busy … it by no means was like that,” he mentioned, including that he was “proud” to be working with the native product.
MacDonald mentioned tweed was an antidote to environmentally unfriendly “quick style”.
“How good to personal a product the place you’ll be able to really look on a map to a tiny island and say, ‘That’s the place my jacket was made.’ That’s so uncommon now, and I feel folks actually engaged with that,” he mentioned.
“Each stage of the manufacturing has to occur right here, however from begin to end, it’s a actually lengthy course of. We’re the epitome of gradual style.”
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