Good old-fashioned luxury and the utilitarian promise of the internet need not be mutually exclusive! An elaborate packaging is integral to the London W11 brand as well as manufacturing partners who have a long heritage of the craft luxury products.
The world’s most exclusive brands are made in Italy; it is there we find craftsmanship with heritage. It was a natural progression to look for a manufacturing partner in Italy to manufacture our cashmere scarves. As well as being known for its beautiful scenery, the region of Lake Como has a long tradition in cloth weaving, dying and printing.
Founded in 1955, our chosen manufacturer began producing for the Haute Couture houses and have since continued to use the highest level of technological development whilst not forgetting the great Italian textile traditions.
All of the textile enriching processes (dying, printing and finishing) that are applied have earned the highly regarded and all encompassing OEKO-TEX® certificate which guarantees the quality and safety as well as environmentally friendly production.
HOW I FOUND OUR PARTNER?
As with many industries, the luxury goods industry is a circle of ‘friends’. You are in there, you work with people, you network and you grow within that. Having worked for several luxury goods houses, exciting brands like Prada, Calvin Klein, Jean Paul Gaultier and Helmut Lang, I had a natural and tight network which made the search for a collaboration with highly skilled manufacturer successful.
THE FABRIC
I wanted to move on from knitted scarves to woven scarves with an elaborate print design. The London W11 cashmere knitwear capsule is all made from 100% cashmere yarn. We don’t work with mixed yarns. For the woven cashmere scarves though I had to move to a fabric of mixed fibres. The digital printing process is too aggressive for the delicate cashmere fibres. The market offers all kind of fibres and quality of woven wool and I opted for the finest and softest for luxury creations with longevity: a wonderful cashmere blended with the finest extra virgin wool.
