I met Toby Logue of Black.co.uk when he invited me to take part in a photoshoot last year showing their luxury gifts and accessories made here in the UK and in Italy. I asked him to share with us the techniques that go into the production of the beautifully made Italian items they sell. Here is what he told me, together with details of how you can buy some of the products he talks about:
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| Toby Logue (centre) inspects an electric loom (see below) |
Cashmere Scarves
Heritage
The company who produces Black's Italian cashmere scarves has been manufacturing cashmere yarn for over 100 years. They have five workshops based in Liguria, a region in northern Italy, within one hour’s drive of their headquarters to ensure quality control.
Cashmere
They source two types of cashmere; white cashmere from Inner Mongolia and brown cashmere from Outer Mongolia. The raw material is then imported to Italy and sent to Biella for washing and spinning. Biella is located between Milan and Turin and is famous for the quality of its water which is essential in ensuring that the Italian cashmere yarn maintains is softness.
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| A shuttle loom |
Production Process
Once the cashmere has been dyed and spun into yarn, it is sent to the workshops in Liguria to be woven into scarves. The two main looms used to create the finished articles are electronic looms and shuttle looms (both pictured above).
The shuttle looms used are based on the design of antique Belgian looms and have to be operated by hand requiring highly skilled craftsmen who attach each individual strand of cashmere to the needles and programme the weave pattern manually.
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| Pressing cashmere |
After this process our scarves are then washed, pressed and finished by hand such as the fringing and any special detailing.
Products above (top left anti-clockwise):
Electric loom https://www.black.co.uk/products/navy-and-grey-double-faced-cashmere-scarf
Made on antique loom https://www.black.co.uk/products/navy-and-white-large-fringed-cashmere-scarf
Printed Merino Wool & Silk Accessories
Heritage
Black's printed merino wool and silk accessories are made by a 3rd generation family business whose workshop is just outside Florence in the heart of the Chianti region of Tuscany on the banks of the River Arno.
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| Tuscany from the factory |
Merino Wool & Silk
The company sources its silk and merino from the weaving mills and print works based near Lake Como in the north of Italy. This region is renowned for its silk printing and jacquard weaving which feature in Black's latest collection.
Production Process
Once the fabrics have been printed they are sent to Florence and then measured up to be cut by hand into ties, scarves and pocket squares.
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| Cutting the fabric |
For the ties, the fabric is laid out along with the lining and cut using an outline and a rotary cutter. Once the tie and lining are in place the fabric is folded and finished with hand stitching.
For the scarves and pocket squares the fabric is cut using only a ruler and a sharp pair of scissors then finished with stitching and in the case of the scarves, handmade fringes.
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| Printed accessories |
Leather Gloves
Heritage
Black's collection of men’s leather gloves is produced by a 4th generation Neapolitan company who have been making gloves since 1895. The company also has a small workshop in northern Italy where detailing and quality control are carried out.
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| Men's leather gloves |
Leather & Linings
The two types of leather used for our gloves are nappa and suede. Nappa leather is regarded as the most soft and supple leather type and is also used for other accessories such as bags, shoes and wallets and comes from the top side of animal. Suede leather is similar to nappa in its softness but differs in texture as it is taken from the underside of the skin.
All Black's men’s leather gloves are lined with either cashmere or silk which is sourced in Italy.
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| Glove making |
Production Process
The first stage of production involves the tanning and dyeing of the leather. After this stage is complete the hides are hung up to dry then spun in wooden drums which restore the leather’s softness from the dyeing process.
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| Cutting the hide |
The hides are then put onto work surfaces and cutting forms are placed over the leather and the glove shapes are made. At this point the linings are added and the gloves shapes are then stitched together.
The gloves are then sent to northern Italy for detailing such as contrast stitching which is done by hand and for final quality control.
This post is sponsored by Black's. I'm grateful to them for their support of this blog.
