Yardsmen recently visited a fabric supplier in Huddersfield, spending time at both the mill and the finishers who combine to produce cloth for our suits, with each establishment boasting over 100 years of history.

First stop was the mills. The looms used to create the fabrics we use at Yardsmen really are something special, taking the weft (the horizontal yarn) through the warp (the vertical yarn) over 700 times a minute with precision accuracy. At this stage, the fabric produced is comparable to the texture of cardboard. This is where the cloth finishers come in, as it is they who are tasked with bringing the cloth to life.

Yorkshire has been at the centre of the UK’s wool trade for hundreds of years due to its ideal conditions for sheep grazing, but more importantly, the clean, pure, consistent soft water that the local hills and layers of gritstone and shale produce. It is this local water that is used to scour, clean and finish the fabric, making Yorkshire the envy of the rest of the wool producing world.

The finishers have invested heavily in the machines they use to process the fabric, even designing their own bespoke machinery where necessary. But the machines are only half the story, as more important are the closely guarded skills of their employees who know how to pick the right machine, choose the correct process and apply the right conditions to elevate the fabric they produce from their international competitors.

All in all it was very reassuring to see a healthy trade still passing through these British cloth institutions, especially as so many suits today are made up in poor quality Chinese and Indian fabrics. For us, this small town in Yorkshire still holds its position as the world’s finest cloth producer and is the reason Yardsmen will continue to source the highest quality cloth used to construct our suits there.

Browse our suit collection on the website, email us or book an appointment to visit us in Waterloo.