Linton Tweeds has been producing fabrics of the highest quality for fashion houses around the world for more than 100 years. All of these fabrics are still designed and woven on site at its mill on Shaddongate in Carlisle, just as when the company was first founded by William Linton in 1912.

The company works with fashion houses in London, Milan and New York, in markets across Europe, North America and Asia, and with luxury brands such as Simone Rocha, Balmain and Dolce & Gabbana.

Running 16 hours a day, the firm’s 14 looms create elaborate, beautiful tweed using a variety of techniques and yarns. A third of each cloth produced at the mill is made from the 100% wool yarn twisted on site, but the other two thirds can be made up of other yarns, resulting in unique, highly complex fabrics and patterns.

A standard Linton tweed might comprise eight different types of yarn – whether that’s wool, silk, velvet ribbon, eyelash, lurex or anything else. The firm likes to push the limits of what a tweed can be, and most recently, this includes new designs with recycled and bio yarns.

The company has also made a number of sustainable developments at the mill itself, which includes:

• Plastic packaging for fabric bales is now all recycled;
• The company recycles all of its cardboard packaging;
• All plastic cones are recycled/reused/exchanged;
• All water comes from an on-site bore hole so water doesn’t go through any pre-treatment;
• Linton Tweeds has invested in a new dye pot which uses a lower liquor ratio, and a new winding machine which uses less energy;
• The boiler system has been upgraded to be more energy efficient.

“We are always looking for other ways to improve our sustainability, so this is ongoing,” said the company’s managing director Keith Walker.

The campaign to promote the creativity, quality, craftsmanship and innovation within the UK textile industry has been developed by UKFT in partnership with The Clothworkers’ Company. Contact textiles@ukft.org for more details.