Quiggleys - Pushing No Boundaries and Redefining Nothing

Scapa - True Shetland

I do like the tag line for Quiggleys: Pushing No boundaries and Redefining Nothing. It says it all.

They're not trying to change the world of sweaters by introducing a third sleeve or a sling to carry bananas in. They simply produce honest-to-goodness British sweatering that can be worn from one decade to the next — and without attracting the gaze of passers-by for being 'too stiff, too tight or too fashionable' as Beau Brummel had it.

Let us remind ourselves of the Devonshire Cashmere sweater they produced for The Merchant Fox? It might be fair to say that that sweater did actually redefine what we expect from a British sweater in terms of provenance. But the tag line stands as a mission statement.

In the spirit of true provenance, they now give us the Scapa Grey you see here. Scapa is made from Voe True Shetland wool — a hand-graded natural and undyed virgin Shetland lambswool. Voe refers to the coastal cliffs that the sheep live upon, scoffing seaweed in the ebb tide. Quiggleys tell us that sweaters made from this wool were worn by Sir Edmund Hillary, who appreciated its supreme lightness and warmth. Suffice it to say that he probably knew a thing or two about sweaters.

Well done Quiggleys for their commitment to British sweater tradition. The Scapa is just the sort of thing we love to feature.