Two men in tweed suits in front of a wooden façade, the one on the left in olive-green check with a flat cap, the one on the right with a bow tie – John Crocket

Tweed Lexicon

What is tweed?

Tweed is a cloth woven from pure new wool, and its origins lie in the British Isles. The name probably derives from its characteristic structure, known as twill, or tweel in Scotland. In German, this is generally called Köperbindung or “Zwillich”: the weave that produces a diagonal pattern in the cloth.

Six tweed fabric swatches with pinked edges: herringbone, various checks and a small pattern – John Crocket

Originally, the name tweed was used above all for cloths handwoven from hand-spun yarns. The small weave patterns were therefore based mainly on fairly coarse woollen yarn, but also on plied warp yarn and worsted.

A point that matters to us: our producers support animal welfare, which is why we stock only mulesing-free wool.

Historic photograph: men in flat caps and jackets on a golf course, one about to take a swing – John Crocket

The history of tweed

The origins of tweed most probably lie in the rural regions of Scotland and Ireland. Tweed was distinguished by its particularly robust construction and so protected men working outdoors from the cold, rainy British climate. As the sheep have also adapted to the harsh climate, wool shorn from Scottish sheep is particularly well suited to tweed. Their wool is correspondingly thick, robust and waterproof.

Map of Great Britain and Ireland showing the locations of the tweed mills – John Crocket

From working cloth to the cloth of the aristocracy

Dyes were always natural: orange was obtained from ragwort, wheat and iris provided the green, and lichen the red. Before long, however, tweed was no longer just the cloth of farmers. After the royal family acquired Balmoral Castle, buying a country estate in Scotland became established throughout English society. To set themselves apart, large landowners designed their own tweed patterns, known as estate tweed, which were worn only by the staff of each estate. This followed the Scottish tradition of dressing according to one's clan.

How is tweed made?

The production process begins with dyeing the wool. Large batches of wool are first placed in a closed vat. After dyeing, the wool is spun to extract the moisture from the fibres. To create the characteristic tweed pattern, the individual dyed batches are shredded and then blended. Only the blend produces the final shade.

Worker feeding colourfully dyed wool fibres into a machine – John Crocket

Worker beside a large heap of pale loose wool – John Crocket

Hands knotting grey yarn threads on a weaving machine – John Crocket

Man at a weaving machine with numerous multicoloured yarn threads, a warp beam behind him – John Crocket

Next, machines draw the individual wool fibres in the same direction and carry them through a series of rollers so that the fibres can be stretched. A further machine draws off the right quantity of fibre to form a very loose strand. To give the yarn the strength needed for weaving, it must then be spun into a strong thread. For this, it is twisted six to eight times, which gives the yarn considerably greater tensile strength.