The Carloway Mill Harris Tweed: Tradition-Based Innovation for a Sustainable Future

Abstract

Textile manufacturing, and within it Harris Tweed production, is as deeply ensconced into Scottish heritage as champagne is to French culture. Today, there are three Mills in Scotland that produce Harris Tweed (twill) fabric, which is then marketed worldwide for production of luxury clothing. The Harris Tweed industry, initially based exclusively on hand-made processes (dyeing, spinning, and weaving) was transformed in the mid-19th century into a more standardized process, still hand-crafted, and as impeccable as machine-made production methods. This led to the booming of demand for Harris Tweed, which essentially made that industry the base of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland’s economy through the 1970s. The decline of European textile industries that followed (Harris Tweed included) and the economic depression that ensued only proves how inextricably linked the local Scottish economy is to this unique type of craftsmanship. The Carloway Mill, one of the three remaining Mills, is under new leadership since 2005. The last ten years have proven critical for the Mill. Harris Tweed survived primarily because of its distinct traits and quality but also “because it is protected by an Act of Parliament limiting the use of the Orb trademark to hand woven tweeds made in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.” In addition to governmental intervention, the new leadership took a bold approach to solving the issue of declining demand for the luxurious fabric by catalyzing an internal product development process. In other words, an industry that has relied on the same type of fabric for the last two hundred years has been revitalized from within and with the launch of the new lighter version of Harris Tweed invented exclusively at Carloway Mill. It is at that Mill that the art of weaving Harris Tweed, the culture of the local craftsmen, and the innovation that comes with a 21st century perspective on textile functionality will all contribute to the legacy of the evolving local craftsmanship. The impact of this innovative product on the local community and its economy is of tremendous significance as it also marks a transformative period in which sustainability is what drives the locals’ survival: they either introduce more positive changes into a legacy process of textile production or they suffer the financial and social repercussions that stagnation entails.