Festive round-up: Merry Christmas from Dugdale Bros

Another year is almost over and 2019 is now well within our sights – and what a year it’s been for Dugdale Bros! In this short festive round-up, we cast our minds back over the last 12 months, summing up our highlights and reflecting on our favourite projects, to truly get us into the festive spirit.

From launching industry-acclaimed collections, to multiple overseas business trips, and of course, being shortlisted for an award, here’s a flavour of what we’ve been up to.

Collection lowdown

We launched, and relaunched, a total of five new collections in 2018 – Lisburn and Crommelin Linen, Cottonopolis and our two legacy White Rose ranges, Caldonaire and Sporting Tweed and Tattersall.

Cottonopolis was extra-special because it was the first cotton collection for tailors in over 50 years to have been spun, dyed, woven and finished in England.

A toast to the awards

There have been a few awards-related activities in 2018 – and we’ve been on both the judging and shortlisting end.

We coordinated and judged the inaugural Handcraft Tailor Scholarship Award – collaborating with the Handcraft Tailor Academy, The Textiles Institute and ASBCI – and then in September, we were selected as one of the three potential winners for the Huddersfield Examiner ‘Export Award’.

Unfortunately, we didn’t scoop first place, but it was still a fantastic opportunity to have our local and enduring clothmaking heritage celebrated!

Strengthened overseas presence

With our export figures increasing month-on-month over the past year, we’ve had more dealings than ever with our overseas distributors and customers. This elevated focus on export clearly illustrates a heightened appetite for traditional craftsmanship and provenance – and this trend shows no sign of cessation in 2019!

We’ve spent lots of time visiting the Japanese, South Korean and Chinese markets, and plan to expand our presence into Russian and South American territories in the near future – watch this space…

Savile Row seal of approval

Prestigious tailors from across the globe herald our ‘Made in Huddersfield, England’ selvedge, but one of many notable projects from the past 12 months was when Richard Anderson Ltd used our Lisburn Linen cloth – in a classic teal shade – for its summertime suiting promotion. It was a real honour to have such an iconic tailoring house use our fabric for its ready-to-wear jacket centrepiece!

So, from all of us here at Dugdale, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

That’s just the tip of the sartorial iceberg when it comes to what a jam-packed year it’s been for Dugdale Bros! But for now, it’s time to swap our tailoring tools for a mince pie (or two!).

Please note that our offices will be closed from 5pm on Friday 21st December 2018 until 8.30am on Wednesday 2nd January 2019.