Living in Clips

A Collection of the finest Cashmere – A Scottish & Chinese Cultural Collaboration

“It is over 200 years since the trade in cashmere between China and Scotland began. The cashmere goats that inhabit the high grasslands of Inner Mongolia produced much of the raw fibre that the inventive Scots spun into the very finest yarns, so building an international  reputation for producing the very finest cashmere knitwear.

Now, in a wonderful example of the perpetual development of global trade, China is fast becoming the leading consumer for Scottish cashmere whose origins often still lie in China.

However, in the past 40 years, the Chinese Cashmere brand Erdos has developed its own technical abilities using the finest (.14 micron) and longest (36mm) available staple of  cashmere fibres, which it is able to source from its own white baby Cashmere goats in Inner Mongolia. From this they are able to produce what is now known as the ‘1436’ range of  superfine cashmere knitwear.

Graeme Black, Creative Director of 1436, has now initiated a new twist in the collaborative tale between Scotland and China, by bringing these superfine Chinese yarns to be hand knit in Scotland by leading knitwear specialist Di Gilpin and her team at the Di Gilpin studio in rural Fife.

He will be sharing a collection of Scottish and Chinese made knitwear – inspired by  the motifs of both nations – as the opening show of the Edinburgh International Fashion Festival on 18th July 2014 at the historic National Museum of Scotland.”

WORDS: Edinburgh International Fashion Festival

Photograph by Natalie Riachi

Post Details

Model – Eve McCusker
Designer – Graeme Black