An initiative to promote Yorkshire textiles inspired by Bradford-born businessman Keith Madeley will reach its latest stage next week.
Bradford textile company Joseph H Clissold has designed and produced a limited edition Yorkshire cloth to raise the profile of the region’s textile industry. The new worsted cloth will be launched on Monday at Clissold’s mill in Otley Road.
The launch will be hosted by Mr Madeley – also known as ‘Mr Yorkshire’ – who inspired the cloth promotion campaign in 2007.
This new cloth has been made from fine Australian Merino wool and carries on the established design incorporating the word “YORKSHIRE” in the fine pinstripe pattern. The fabric will be available from Leeds-based made-to-measure specialists Suit the City.
Mr Madeley said Yorkshire MPs and business chiefs had expressed interest in buying some of the cloth “The Yorkshire Suit will continue to be an excellent talking point at any public gathering and will create a great sense of pride for Yorkshire folk in the region, the UK and the world,” he said.
Peter Ackroyd, of The Woolmark Company and Bradford-based chief operating officer of The Campaign for Wool, said: “The Clissold pinstripe is a perfect illustration of a growing desire to source fabrics locally as consumers ask ever more searching questions about provenance and country of origin. Yorkshire cloth enjoys an unparalleled reputation for quality in all the major fashion capitals of the world as business in the global premium market continues to flourish"
Mr Madeley added: “During the Industrial Revolution Yorkshire was the heart of the UK wool industry, post the Second World War the manufacturing landscape had changed dramatically and not for the better.
“Today the mills that weathered the storm are the backbone of a niche and highly regarded UK textile industry producing luxury woollen cloth sought after by customers and markets across the globe.
“The status of the Yorkshire textile industry today is something that the people of Yorkshire should be aware of and celebrate; it’s important through initiatives like Yorkshire cloth that we raise the profile of the industry and support it.”
The Abbey House Museum in Kirkstall has been provided with a suit jacket made from the original Yorkshire cloth in 2007 which is currently on display as part of the “Snapshot of Yorkshire” Exhibition.
J H Clissold has been designing and producing cloth since 1909 when the business started in Cleckheaton. As it expanded the business relocated to Bradford and in 2007 was acquired by the Holland & Sherry group, famous for its Savile Row tailoring business, part of the Tom James group of companies.
Clissold has customers in the UK, Europe, the Middle East, South East Asia, China, Japan, United States of America, Canada and Latin America.
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