Jaggy Nettle

Last week we were treated to a guest lecture from the owner of cashmere label Jaggy Nettle. Jaggy Nettle is a family owned business based in the Borders of Scotland. It was interesting to learn about the development of their label as well as being a reminder of the exciting things going on in Scottish Fashion (people get so focused on London).

The label is mainly based on Scottish cashmere though has a sister label Jaggy Nettle Japan which focuses on Japanese style salvage denim. What makes their cashmere company so unique is that they print directly onto the cashmere. They have developed this method over 15 years and it is a totally unique but difficult process. This method has opened many doors for experiments and designs with their jumpers- garments that were once thought of as for the older generations who like traditional and dare I say old fashioned styles cashmere companies have become accustomed to producing.

The garments are knit in the mill in Hawick then individually printed using a process of direct screen print before being sewn into the final garment. All pieces are individually checked and signed off to assure perfection.

Many may view cashmere as being something for a more mature market but no, Jaggy Nettle's designs are fresh and young perfect for young professionals with money to spend on something fun and different.

At the beginning of our lecturer it was made clear to us that Jaggy Nettle are very much against conventional forms of marketing, this is what I found very interesting about their success. Slowly but definitely surely Jaggy Nettle have built their brand and I predict they will shortly really take off as there has been a huge move recently back to 'Made in Britain' quality fashion, something that this brand embodies.

With a reputation for quality Jaggy Nettle work with the likes of Johnson of Elgin and Harris Tweed on some beautiful pieces for a younger market, and they appeal to this market through their choice of designs.

Jaggy Nettle has worked with Faber&Faber theLondon based publishing company. They had full access to their achieve and have used designs and typefaces from famous books and plays to develop ideas for their jumpers- genius! Though what I found truly genius what how they used this project as a platform to launch their small unknown label by teaming up with a world famous company (also using their marketing/PR team and industry name to secure publicity) Everyone wins.

I am still dreaming about their SLAG jumper, aw so chic, though at around £400 it is slightly out of my price range.

Jaggy Nettle has some really exciting projects in the pipeline; include the new MADE IN GREY BRITIAN campaign and a WWF collaboration that will hopefully see Jaggy Nettle become an internationally known brand. WWF was interested to collaborate to help raise awareness of the problems that the growing demand for cheap cashmere on the high street is having on endangered species such as snow tigers (their natural habitat is being used to farm goats). They explained to us how important it was for their brand to support these charities but more importantly how having a back story like this really helps them to market the products. People have grown tired of being told what to wear and why but a story to the product catches people’s attention and creates interest in the brand and therefore the product. A lot learnt for a Monday morning!

All images taken directly from Website.

At the end of the lecture we are given a chance to view some of the products which were all beautiful! They are all on Jaggy Nettles website so why not have a look- http://www.jaggynettle.com/ Women's, men's, accessories and home wear available.