Yarns have been spinning and spools have been whirring at the David Nieper fashion house in Derbyshire this week, as the knitwear team cast off their 100,000th garment.
Over 30 years Britain has lost 85% of its’ textile jobs to offshore production and when the last of David Nieper’s British suppliers closed in the wake of the last recession, David Nieper, determined to keep jobs in Britain opened their own facility. Confident in customer’s appetite for British made goods they purchased brand new machines, trained staff from scratch and opened one of the few genuinely new knitwear production units in Britain for a generation.
The family business established in 1961 has always been loyal to British skills and today their knitwear division accounts for up to 20% of their fashion garments, made in Cashmere and luxury merino wools.
David Nieper sells employs 250 staff designing and making fashion for private customers within the UK and overseas. The current knitwear collection features over 70 different styles in sizes 10-28, all crafted by a team of 12 specialists, with a combined 150 years’ experience in knitwear production.
Luxury Lambswool, Merino and Cashmere sourced from sustainable stocks are the staple yarns of the knitwear collection, which are skilfully spun into a range contemporary designs and classic styles.
The David Nieper knitwear range has enduring appeal with customers. The Wedgewood Blue, Cable Roll Neck jumper in 100% Lamb’s wool has been a star design for several years; the classic and timeless styling making it one of the company’s best loved and best selling garments each year.
Debbie Gibson, Head knitwear supervisor commented:
“We have a team of skilled knitwear specialists with a very high level of technical ability taking huge pride in their work. Even one of our most simple styles has over 500,000 stiches which we knit faithfully to replicate the creative designs from our fashion studio.
Once each garment has been knitted, individual panels must be treated to uncurl and then linked together before dying, seaming and bar tacking. This is followed by a detailed examination before the garment is washed, dried, pressed and the neck trims cut, split and hand linked in the traditional way. Finally, each garment is lock-stitched prior to hand finishing, pressing for the second time and being examined for perfect quality.”
Christopher Nieper, Managing Director David Nieper commented:
“It was a bold move to bring knitwear in house, however in 2010 we seized the opportunity to produce high quality British knitwear at a time when consumers were turning away from mass produced, synthetic products and looking for more authentic knitwear in natural fibres.
Britain’s heritage as a manufacturer of textiles and yarns cannot be underestimated. ‘Made in Britain’ is a unique, trusted brand proposition Internationally, and, especially now with Brexit and a weak GBP we need to create local jobs and develop local British skills.”
The David Nieper company has always gone the extra mile to prioritize provenance and integrity in the production process of clothes made in their factory. All collections are designed and manufactured from the fashion house in Derbyshire, with relentless commitment to the exceptional quality of each garment sold.
It is a long standing custom in the company that every single piece of clothing made is fastened with a swing-tag signed by the people who make it – from the seamstress, to the person that examines, presses and packs for each customer, worldwide.
-ENDS-
For further information contact
David Nieper Press Office
07904 257687
