a
Woolly for you
Once, Pringle meant tasteless golf attire. Now, designer Clare Waight Keller has gone off course to create some of the sexiest knits around, says James Anderson.
Thirty-odd years and, presumably, countless knit-one-pearl-ones later, Waight Keller is now ensconced as creative director of Pringle, the Scottish brand famed for its cashmere credentials since 1815.
The job is, to say the least, prestigious. Waight Keller - after much industry anticipation - took the reins back in late 2005, succeeding Stuart Vevers, who instigated a revamp of the company to considerable acclaim back in 2000. Consequently, Waight Keller's responsibilities are now not only varied, but also vital to the continued creative and economic growth of the brand - popularly known for its Argyle patterns and related golfing associations, but in reality now far more modern and fashion-relevant than ever before.
From overseeing the design of all packaging, labels and new stores (the US and Asia will soon be fully Pringle-ised), along with the women's lines and men's Pringle of Scotland and Red Label collections, Waight Keller has the type of schedule that would leave many either withered on the vine or suffering a severe case of wool rage.
But now, amid the cool, white environs of the men's section of Pringle's Sloane Street shop, Waight Keller looks impressively calm and - thankfully - not as though she is likely to stab anyone with a knitting needle in the near future.
She is infectiously enthusiastic about the role she and her team have at Pringle, totally clued up about the company's past and clearly proud of recent progress: in short, an excellent ambassador for a brand entering a new era.
So when was she first ever aware of Pringle? "Oh, a long time ago," she says. "My grandfather wore Pringle sweaters and always looked very elegant, but it became much more on my radar when the brand was relaunched six years ago, when there was quite a buzz around it. Because [my] focus has [always] been knitwear, I was really curious about what was going on at the company."
Indeed, Waight Keller's illustrious career prior to Pringle had included - take a deep breath - a senior designer role alongside Tom Ford at Gucci, following on from her position as design director of Ralph Lauren's Purple menswear label, and a four-year stint working on the womenswear collection at Calvin Klein in New York, which she joined immediately after graduating from the Royal College of Art with an MA in Fashion Textiles. Waight Keller acknowledges that, prior to her appointment at Pringle, "I knew what this brand could be. I had been watching it for a long time."
With this in mind, she set to work with gusto, bringing a fresh, lighter, more flexible approach to the menswear collection, which seamlessly converges knitwear with tailoring. She has intuitively reconnnected Pringle to the demands of contemporary, style-conscious men who are increasingly unlikely to wear any one brand from head to toe. She defines the new Pringle punter as "very fresh, young, having quite an artistic dash about him. He's an independent character." As a result there is a pleasing kind of in-built potential for mixing and matching garments in a highly personal way in both the Pringle Red Label collection and Pringle of Scotland menswear range for autumn/winter 2006 - unveiled to great effect at Milan Fashion week.
"It is important now that people dress with personality," she says. "There is room for individual statement - it's not so much about looking 'of the moment' for its own sake." Such a belief will, no doubt, be music to the ears of any chap who finds himself bewildered by the relentless march of seasonal fashion fads. "Every piece can be incorporated into someone's wardrobe, giving him a personal statement without literally saying I am wearing Pringle’.”
Pringle's Red Label range feels a younger in spirit, and was inspired by the Beat generation of artists and poets in London and Paris - so we get, among many other things, slim-silhouette trousers, tank-tops, V-necks, zipped cardigans, soft-washed leather bomber jackets and double-breasted coated cotton trench coats. The Sixties mood was discernible in the advertising campaign shot by fashion photographer of the moment David Sims, and starring aristocratic model Tom Guiness-Taylor.
"My reference was to David Bailey's portraiture from the 1960s." reveals Waight Keller. “We wanted that 'caught' moment, not too posed or "fashiony' looking. We were conscious that we were creating a new image for the brand, and that it was about emphasising the person or personality rather than just fashion. David Sims' work in black and white is so beautiful, and he is fantastic to work with."
The Pringle of Scotland Menswear collection, mean-while, which seems geared towards a slightly more mature market, derived its initial inspiration from an old photograph of the Duke of Windsor. Waight Keller reveals: "He was considered the epitome of style in his suits, but I had this image of him from the 1930s with his travelling wardrobe, and it was amazing - nothing matched! A whole row of odd coats, odd trousers — obviously in his private life he was very eclectic and a bit eccentric in the way he dressed!" The result? A selection of covetable garments that give ample scope to be dressed up, down or somewhere comfortably in between. Velvet, tweed, corduroy and Prince of Wales check are reinterpreted in lightweight finishes and elegant fits, and super-rich knitwear comes in lush textured cables, Scottish four-ply cashmere and baby camel hair.
Frankly, it's quite hard to resist an impromptu flurry of shoplifting. "The range is more pared back in terms of colour, and much more about texture, combining natural fibres - being more technical in the actual construction of the knitwear. It's about being approachable and luxurious," clarifies Waight Keller.
"I wanted to focus a lot less on the Argyle, so you will now find that only in the classic parts of the collection. The brand had been very focused on the icons - the Argyle, the lion - and I felt it was time to bring back the roots of the company. When we initially looked at the archives and the history - the imagery and the heritage of Pringle - there are elements of it such as the textures and the quality that are so beautiful, and that hadn't really been tapped into over the past five years."
And of the future, she says: "I would like people to perceive [Pringle] as an exciting modern knitwear brand - combining classic pieces that we will always do, but also pushing boundaries by doing more directional knitwear and creating new ideas." No woolly thinking here, then.
Thirty-odd years and, presumably, countless knit-one-pearl-ones later, Waight Keller is now ensconced as creative director of Pringle, the Scottish brand famed for its cashmere credentials since 1815.
The job is, to say the least, prestigious. Waight Keller - after much industry anticipation - took the reins back in late 2005, succeeding Stuart Vevers, who instigated a revamp of the company to considerable acclaim back in 2000. Consequently, Waight Keller's responsibilities are now not only varied, but also vital to the continued creative and economic growth of the brand - popularly known for its Argyle patterns and related golfing associations, but in reality now far more modern and fashion-relevant than ever before.
From overseeing the design of all packaging, labels and new stores (the US and Asia will soon be fully Pringle-ised), along with the women's lines and men's Pringle of Scotland and Red Label collections, Waight Keller has the type of schedule that would leave many either withered on the vine or suffering a severe case of wool rage.
But now, amid the cool, white environs of the men's section of Pringle's Sloane Street shop, Waight Keller looks impressively calm and - thankfully - not as though she is likely to stab anyone with a knitting needle in the near future.
She is infectiously enthusiastic about the role she and her team have at Pringle, totally clued up about the company's past and clearly proud of recent progress: in short, an excellent ambassador for a brand entering a new era.
So when was she first ever aware of Pringle? "Oh, a long time ago," she says. "My grandfather wore Pringle sweaters and always looked very elegant, but it became much more on my radar when the brand was relaunched six years ago, when there was quite a buzz around it. Because [my] focus has [always] been knitwear, I was really curious about what was going on at the company."
Indeed, Waight Keller's illustrious career prior to Pringle had included - take a deep breath - a senior designer role alongside Tom Ford at Gucci, following on from her position as design director of Ralph Lauren's Purple menswear label, and a four-year stint working on the womenswear collection at Calvin Klein in New York, which she joined immediately after graduating from the Royal College of Art with an MA in Fashion Textiles. Waight Keller acknowledges that, prior to her appointment at Pringle, "I knew what this brand could be. I had been watching it for a long time."
With this in mind, she set to work with gusto, bringing a fresh, lighter, more flexible approach to the menswear collection, which seamlessly converges knitwear with tailoring. She has intuitively reconnnected Pringle to the demands of contemporary, style-conscious men who are increasingly unlikely to wear any one brand from head to toe. She defines the new Pringle punter as "very fresh, young, having quite an artistic dash about him. He's an independent character." As a result there is a pleasing kind of in-built potential for mixing and matching garments in a highly personal way in both the Pringle Red Label collection and Pringle of Scotland menswear range for autumn/winter 2006 - unveiled to great effect at Milan Fashion week.
"It is important now that people dress with personality," she says. "There is room for individual statement - it's not so much about looking 'of the moment' for its own sake." Such a belief will, no doubt, be music to the ears of any chap who finds himself bewildered by the relentless march of seasonal fashion fads. "Every piece can be incorporated into someone's wardrobe, giving him a personal statement without literally saying I am wearing Pringle’.”
Pringle's Red Label range feels a younger in spirit, and was inspired by the Beat generation of artists and poets in London and Paris - so we get, among many other things, slim-silhouette trousers, tank-tops, V-necks, zipped cardigans, soft-washed leather bomber jackets and double-breasted coated cotton trench coats. The Sixties mood was discernible in the advertising campaign shot by fashion photographer of the moment David Sims, and starring aristocratic model Tom Guiness-Taylor.
"My reference was to David Bailey's portraiture from the 1960s." reveals Waight Keller. “We wanted that 'caught' moment, not too posed or "fashiony' looking. We were conscious that we were creating a new image for the brand, and that it was about emphasising the person or personality rather than just fashion. David Sims' work in black and white is so beautiful, and he is fantastic to work with."
The Pringle of Scotland Menswear collection, mean-while, which seems geared towards a slightly more mature market, derived its initial inspiration from an old photograph of the Duke of Windsor. Waight Keller reveals: "He was considered the epitome of style in his suits, but I had this image of him from the 1930s with his travelling wardrobe, and it was amazing - nothing matched! A whole row of odd coats, odd trousers — obviously in his private life he was very eclectic and a bit eccentric in the way he dressed!" The result? A selection of covetable garments that give ample scope to be dressed up, down or somewhere comfortably in between. Velvet, tweed, corduroy and Prince of Wales check are reinterpreted in lightweight finishes and elegant fits, and super-rich knitwear comes in lush textured cables, Scottish four-ply cashmere and baby camel hair.
Frankly, it's quite hard to resist an impromptu flurry of shoplifting. "The range is more pared back in terms of colour, and much more about texture, combining natural fibres - being more technical in the actual construction of the knitwear. It's about being approachable and luxurious," clarifies Waight Keller.
"I wanted to focus a lot less on the Argyle, so you will now find that only in the classic parts of the collection. The brand had been very focused on the icons - the Argyle, the lion - and I felt it was time to bring back the roots of the company. When we initially looked at the archives and the history - the imagery and the heritage of Pringle - there are elements of it such as the textures and the quality that are so beautiful, and that hadn't really been tapped into over the past five years."
And of the future, she says: "I would like people to perceive [Pringle] as an exciting modern knitwear brand - combining classic pieces that we will always do, but also pushing boundaries by doing more directional knitwear and creating new ideas." No woolly thinking here, then.