Pringle of Scotland is one of the oldest names in the Scottish borders, the
birthplace of the British knitwear industry. Founded in 1815 by Robert Pringle, the
company began as a manufacturer of hosiery and underwear. It became one of the
first luxury knitwear manufacturers in the world, having expanded throughout
Europe, the US and Japan during the 19th and 20th centuries.
Pringle of Scotland has been knitting cashmere since the 1870s and was one of the
first brands to introduce knitwear as outerwear in the early 1900s. Pringle also
created the intarsia design known today as the Pringle signature argyle pattern,
which was immediately adopted by the Duke of Windsor and the fashionable set of
the time. Pringle took a sporty two-piece cardigan and sweater set from the golf
course and retailored it to create the ‘twinset’ worn at sophisticated tea parties.
this was teamed with a single string of pearls and an icon of classic British style
was born. The brand also introduced pink cashmere for men, one of the confirmed
fans being the famous actor and socialite, Noel Coward.
Pringle has been a favourite of the stars of stage and screen since the 1940s. In
the 1950s, the original sweater girls: Jean Simmons, Margaret Lockwood, Deborah
Kerr, Grace Kelly, Brigitte Bardot, Margot Fonteyn and many more all wore Pringle.
Today, Pringle is worn by stars such as Madonna, Guy Ritchie, Ewan Mcgregor, Nicole
Kidman, Sophie Dahl, Claudia Schiffer, Liberty Ross, Sharon Stone and Scarlett
Johannson.
In march 2000, a new chapter began for the company when a brand vision and key
strategies were put in place to take the business into the international luxury
arena. Pringle now sells from London, Milan and Tokyo showrooms with many other
markets growing at a pace. Pringle operates flagship stores in New Bond Street
and Sloane Street, London, and also in Tokyo and Hong Kong.
In 2005, Pringle celebrated 19 decades of quintessential style as well as the 70th
anniversary of the Pringle design classic, the iconic twinset. It also saw the
appointment of Clare Waight Keller as Pringle’s first creative director. Waight
Keller has an excellent track-record in luxury design, having previously worked
for Gucci, Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein.
Her direction for the brand was unveiled in Milan in September 2005 when she
showed two unique dresses to mark the 190th anniversary celebrations. Created
from very fine silk knit lace, the dresses offered a taste of the direction in which
she is taking the brand as Pringle enters its second era of development. Her debut
collections for Autumn/Winter 2006 womenswear, menswear and accessories were
presented during Milan fashion weeks in January and February.
The Pringle of Scotland collection is founded in our heritage of movie stars and
royalty and is combined with a powerful mix of popular culture and contemporary
style. Luxury with an edge defines the mainline women’s and men’s collections
which are shown on the Milan catwalk.
Pringle’s 1815 collection is founded in their heritage of street culture and evokes a
fashion sensibility that is individual and modern, yet stylish and sophisticated.
Pringle’s golf collection is inspired by their classic sporting heritage and continues
to be a valuable element of the Pringle collections. Robert Pringle’s founding
principles of quality, style, authenticity and innovation are still of the utmost
importance today and key to Clare Waight Keller’s aim to re-establish Pringle of
Scotland as one of the most desirable luxury heritage fashion brands in the
world.
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