The cult of Tweed

It is on the Isle of Harris or the Isle of Lewis in the Hebrides in Scotland that the finest Tweeds in the country are produced. The fabric must be woven by hand according to strict rules, at the weaver’s home and in a precise width of 150 cm. Today protected by the Harris Tweed Authority, this know-how is essential to the history of the Hebrides. Originally conceived as a form of camouflage, Tweeds are created with the surrounding landscape in mind. The traditional shades of green and brown of grass and heathland are the aesthetic underpinnings of this high performance, wear and weather resistant fabric. In the fifties, Coco Chanel, wishing to create elegant pieces in which women could move freely, gave a new nobility to Tweed by creating her famous jacket.