Feeling a Need for Tweed?

3 years ago

British-brewed couture at its finest

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Let’s face it: tweed is a British style staple at this point. From Peaky Blinders flat caps to the sleek suits worn by the royal family (Kate Middleton in particular is a fan), this is a style embedded in the UK’s fashion landscape. Intrigued? Check out our edit of the best tweed style staples to shop and rent now, featuring Sandro, Maje and House of Bruar.

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Feeling a Need for Tweed?

While the first thing that may come to mind when we say ‘tweed’ are old farmers in gilets, wellies and flat caps, the modern reality is much more vibrant. Synonymous with traditional Scottish (from which the craze started), Irish, Welsh and English dress – as one would expect from nations with less than ideal weather – the fabric has only been used in commercial fashion since the mid nineteenth century. And even then, tweed materialised in the upper classes as shooting jackets, and then later in the Edwardian middle classes as an idealised symbol of elite society.

Fast-forward to the 1920s, when Coco Chanel borrowed some sports gear from her lover, Hugh Grosvenor (aka the Second Duke of Westminster), and fell in love with the fabric. The introduction of tweed to luxury fashion signalled a renaissance for the material, with many brands since – including DIOR, Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood – following in Chanel’s footsteps.

MaisonCléo

The SS22 runway saw more designers than ever play with the material, bringing colour and modernity to tradition while nodding to the material’s roots (a tweed suit will forever remain iconic, after all). Just see MaisonCléo, for example. The French fashion brand took to the runway armed with a Y2K arsenal – but hidden amongst the baby tees and mini dresses was a selection of tweed treasures, like the pink co-ord pictured above.

Browse our edit of the best tweed pieces below, but remember to shop mindfully. While we’re all for exploring what’s new at our favourite boutiques, we must remember to be conscious of the planet. With many trends the product of style recycling, it’s easy to instead try digging around the back of your wardrobe for your next obsession. Alternatively, try sourcing from rental and resale sites or vintage stores to help keep things circular.