Hainsworth top of the class with US scarves deal
A FAMILY-OWNED Yorkshire textile mill has teamed up with an American company to launch a range of quintessentially English scarves into the US academic market.
Leeds-based Hainsworth, which was founded in 1783 and has supplied British schools with uniform fabric for blazers, caps and coats for over 125 years, has signed an exclusive partnership with Chicago firm Harris Made.
Hainsworth is probably best known for manufacturing the famous Hainsworth Guard Scarlet cloth which is worn by the Queen’s Guards outside Buckingham Palace and has been supplying cloth to the UK armed forces since the Duke of Wellington faced Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.
The company, which holds a Royal Warrant, employs 164 people at its 250,000sq ft mill in Pudsey and also supplies cloth for snooker and pool tables, protective clothing for firefighters and even makes woollen coffins.
Harris Made, which recently launched in America, makes bespoke collegiate scarves with embroidered seals for US schools, colleges and universities.
Each scarf is handmade in Britain using 100% finest Hainsworth Saxony wool; the same wool used to make the original university scarf first introduced to Oxford and Cambridge University students in the 19th century.
Some of the first American schools to place orders include The Lawrenceville School, a prestigious east coast boarding school that dates back to 1810, Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart, Lake Forest College, Northwestern University in Illinois and the Latin School of Chicago, a co-educational independent day school.
British-born Emma Harris, founder of Harris Made, said: “The wearing of a scarf in collegiate colours is a centuries-old tradition of British universities and schools that demonstrates academic excellence, scholarly pride and is a symbol of community.
“We are introducing to select American universities and schools a unique opportunity to have their own traditional scarf, with embroidered seal and signature. With its reputation for excellence and quality, we are proud to be working in exclusive partnership with Hainsworth.”
Hainsworth manufactures a range of wool cloths used in the highest quality British school and university scarves, blazers, caps and coats. The company can weave woollen cloth to any specification and colour match.
Diane Simpson, sales and marketing director for Hainsworth, said: “Hainsworth has been helping to dress the smartest minds at leading educational institutions in the UK for over 125 years. We’re delighted to be working with Harris Made and helping them establish a collegiate scarf tradition in America.”
