An Irish tradition that has stood the test of time

It all begins in the 18th century, in the Scottish Highlands .

It is a mountainous region where winters are particularly cold and wet. Farmers in the region therefore need effective clothing to cope with this while working outdoors.

With no Canada Goose nearby, they developed a 100% homemade recipe.

They collect wool from breeders in the region. A thick and rustic wool: that of “blackmouth” sheep, with fibers so rough that they are made into carpets today. The idea that they wore it to work in the fields therefore leads me to believe that the term “badass” appeared in the 18th century as well. Theory to be verified.

Interesting subtlety: they card this wool but do not paint it. That is, they just align the fibers to remove impurities. Nothing more before spinning.

Thus, the wool remains as raw as possible and retains a maximum of natural fats, making the fabric more insulating and water-repellent.

They make a thick, tightly woven fabric from it, on their own looms, on their farms. After spinning the wool by hand, they follow the weaving pattern of the twill weave, with the famous diagonals that you find on your denims for example.

And bam! It's tweed. Woolen armor that farmers can abuse while still being protected from northern squalls . Its water-repellency also suited fishermen. Its colors, discreet in nature because they are inspired by Scottish and Irish landscapes, camouflage hunters.

What's impressive is that this reputation as a sturdy, durable and practical fabric will take it far beyond the Scottish countryside.

It first appealed to the English wealthy classes. At the beginning of the 19th century, it was not financial joy for Scottish owners. So they rented or sold their houses to English aristocrats for their outdoor activities. This is how the English discovered tweed, which will not leave their shoulders anytime soon.

Weavers from the Hebrides Islands in Scotland and County Donegal in Ireland, where this textile tradition has been passed down from the start, make tweed their trademark. They begin to export it thanks to the success of their work.

Moreover, it is in this context that the name tweed would have been given following a confusion. There are several versions of the story and here is my favorite: In 1826, a London cloth merchant received an invoice from Watson & Sons, his Scottish supplier. Reading “tweel” which means “twill” in Scottish, it is believed that Watson wanted to write “tweed” as a brand name, referring to the river of the same name in his region. It is said that the merchant sold the fabrics under this name and it remained that way.

Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, husband of Queen Victoria, drove home the popularity of tweed in 1848. He bought Balmoral Castle and dedicated a tweed pattern to this estate, so as not to make enemies by using a tartan already used by a clan.

The trend is launched: bourgeois families who buy an estate in the countryside design their own tweed, which will be worn by their staff in particular.

It's crazy how a fabric with modest origins, created for work in rural areas, can become a symbol of elegance on an international level.

Wildfire reached the middle classes with industrialization, which made tweed more accessible. We then wear tweed for hiking, walking or cycling.

And this is only the beginning, because the practicality and charm of tweed will make it a style icon: Coco Chanel has a crush on the jackets of her lover, the Duke of Westminster who went hunting with them in the Scottish Highlands (The circle is complete). She was inspired by it to create her famous tweed jacket in 1920.

Thomas Burberry, a British clothier, also used tweed very early in his collections for the elegance and outdoor imagery that this material conveys.

From parades to celebrities, there is only one step: Audrey Hepburn, Elvis Presley, Jackie Kennedy, or even Johnny Cash will dress in this aura of tweed. Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones is the most telling case in my eyes.

His tweed jackets give him the presence of a professor while expressing his aura of an explorer. Just to understand that he may write diagrams on a board, but that doesn't stop him from being ready to roll on the ground at any moment to dodge the shots of nasty Nazis (or communists, your choice).

It's all this historical character that we love in tweed and that we wanted to find in our coat.

Already, we wanted it to hold up as well as these decades-old coats that we can still come across second hand. It depends on the quality of its assembly but it starts above all with the thickness and density of the weaving. A dense tweed weighing 465 to 485 grams per m2, with this reassuring robustness when worn.

A bit of a geek story: the thickness of the fibers, which are 29.5 microns in diameter, has something to do with it too. It contributes to that dry and nervous hand typical of tweed.

So, let's be honest, it doesn't have the softness of a cashmere coat and that's a good thing. It wouldn't be real tweed otherwise. Unlike a sweater, the wool of a coat does not have to be soft at all costs since you will not be wearing it shirtless. Well, it depends on your evening, so we still lined it entirely in viscose just in case.

And rest assured, no “blackmouth” wool for carpets here. Depending on the arrival, it is wool from Australia, New Zealand or Norway. It is also treated with more modern finishes, which make it soft, for comfort and for a beautiful drape on you.

The other important point was that it protects you from the cold and the rain. The least of things for a subject that covered workers at sea and in the mountains. And without suffocating you in transport, like certain coats with high percentages of synthetics.

As a result, no compromise on natural materials here: it is 100% wool, naturally thermoregulating thanks to the fibers which trap or release hot air depending on the ambient temperature. You won't go to the Bahamas with it either, but just open it on the bus so you don't get cooked in it. Wool is also naturally water-repellent. With the tight and thick weave, you will be able to withstand temporary rain without problem. Let it dry on a shoulder hanger and you'll be fine.

It's not just the wool of tweed that warms our hearts. There are also its colors, historically taken from Scottish and Irish countries. Here, these are the Irish landscapes: those of County Donegal in Ireland. Our spinner is one of the few to still work in these lands of origin of Donegal tweed. His company was founded under the name Gaeltarra in 1970 in Kilcar then renamed itself Donegal Yarns in 2008. We recognize that this has the merit of being clearer.

Donegal Yarns has developed this very beautiful dark green, rather sober and therefore easy to wear. Which doesn't mean it has to be boring! All you have to do is look at these stripes arranged in tiles which change from the usual brown chevrons and houndstooth:

You obviously noticed the little colorful speckling. We had a lot of fun developing it just for you and that's a whole different story.

A fabric was on the rise in Ireland in the 18th century. Guess which one. Scottish artisans brought it by migrating to the island, while the two countries share much economically and culturally.

As in Scotland, Irish farmers weave their tweed on artisanal looms on their farms in County Donegal.

But they do it with a particularity: these little colored dots, characteristic of donegal wool which quickly becomes famous for that.

Instant poetry: a legend says that originally, they were pieces of flower petals of several colors. Women would have added them to wool to bring luck to their sailor husbands when they went to sea.

Myth or reality ? We admit that we like to believe it but what is certain is that these colored dots are made of wool these days. And most of the time, Donegal wool is no longer made in Donegal.

We find them almost everywhere and some very beautiful ones. We are delighted that it stimulates the creativity of other weavers around the world. But it's increasingly rare to come across authentic Donegal tweed, with the little imperfections that make up the richness of its texture, the balance between rusticity and elegance that we love so much. Real donegal, yes!

We are therefore very happy to have found this again by developing our fabric with the Molloy family, who have been weaving their wool for six generations in the same workshop in Donegal. Since the 19th century, each generation has been born and raised right next door. Difficult to do more local.

Pathé British reported on them in 1957:

If you want to see with your own eyes how exciting their work is, we went to meet them there two years ago to shoot a video. It was on the occasion of the release of our first coat made with them:

And to go further in this exploration of know-how, you will also find other very interesting reports. The YouTube search bar is your friend.

So, how are they going to preserve the original character of Donegal in 2023?

They are already using the machines of yesteryear. Weaving looms over 50 years old.

Then they take their time. A lot even, because they make the machines run 4 times slower. And it's not to play craftsmanship and slow fashion. There is a real reason.

In fact, the small colored dots are fibers not stretched during spinning. We're talking about neps. And if the machine weaves too quickly, these neps will not have time to come out. Which would be a shame, because that’s the whole point of donegal. Running the machines slowly allows the richness of the neps to express itself. Some fibers will stand out a lot, others barely and that's where the perfect imperfection of real donegal tweed comes from.

But with these neps, you shouldn't overdo it. Again, it's all about balance. These colored dots must distinguish you without making you look like a Christmas tree. To do this, Molloy family employees take the time to check each fabric as it comes out of the machine. They thus ensure that there is just the right amount of neps, by adjusting by hand with a needle.

This time, we ourselves contributed to the quest for this balance between originality and subtlety. It was the teamwork of Julien, Charlotte, Landry and Sarah who made up our product team at that time, as well as Kieran Molloy, who runs the business with his father Shaun. All this, starting from a discovery by Jordan, our creative manager. A little design adventure that I want to share with you.

One fine day, Jordan came across this pattern from Molloy & Sons while scouring the internet:

Julien and he say to each other that this fabric would be changed to a darker green. It would thus be more unique and more sober, therefore easy to wear with most of the colors in your wardrobe. And with a Donegal speckling, it would be a must!

The team asks Kieran Molloy if this is feasible. And this is the case, because Donegal Yarns has a yarn that corresponds: Termon 4715. If you ever want to make yourself a blanket in donegal, you now have the ref'.

We therefore have a first sample woven. When we received it, we said to ourselves that we would like neps in more discreet and more natural colors. Here, the red and sky blue are very vivid.

We are therefore considering other tracks, including Morne 5517. Not the same green, but less bright neps.

We ask to receive a reel to really see what it actually gives. Since we're not fans, it won't go any further.

A few emails later, Kieran proposed a solution to the product team: ask Donegal Yarns to spin the same green as Termon 4715, but with other neps colors. It turns out that Donegal Yarns doesn't have enough of this yarn in stock for our coats anyway. He will therefore have to make it whatever happens, so you might as well ask for tailor-made items!

All that remains is to choose the colors of neps to replace. To do this, Kieran sends us the colors available at Donegal Yarns. He tells us that the initial colors of Termon 4517 are:

• red 2249,
• sky blue 1562,
• khaki green 1645,
• brown 2684.

Here they are in the photos of the colors available. Since I'm a nice person (and it's almost Christmas, hopefully), I've circled them for you so you can easily spot them:

So, what we did:

• we replaced red 2249 with medium gray 2763,
• we also switched the sky blue 1562 to the navy blue 1441,
• we kept the khaki green 1645,
• as well as brown 2684.

And here is this final selection:

Well, let's admit it: it's a detail and we've had a lot of headaches. But it's the sum of the details that make you love a coat to the point of wearing it all your life without getting tired of it. Whether these details concern the material or the shape of the part. Oh, hey! A forceful transition.

“That’s from Monsieur’s coat!”

That's what David, a fellow copywriter, said while laughing when he tried on the coat at the office.

More explicit (and more censored) quote from Benoît when I posted it:

“With that on you, you go out on a date, you have every chance on your side to go up for tea.”

These are joking moments of course, but they convey the same underlying truth: something else immediately emerges in an imposing coat like this. Its shape has a majestic side and it doesn't come from nowhere. It actually comes from Scotland.

Rewind: mid-19th century, Scottish Highlands, Balmacaan estate near Inverness.

It is still cold and wet in the region. A real pleasure to go out.

A rich entrepreneur said to himself: “It's not bad, this thing, tweed (a material that was quite popular in the region at the time, you may know). What if I asked my tailor to make it into an overcoat, so I wouldn't come home frozen and wet like Guinness sorbet?”

This is a reenactment quote based on several google searches about the creation of the iconic Balmacaan coat. The circumstances of which are discussed, but not the location.

And one thing is certain: as with other tweed garments worn by aristocrats, the majesty of the Balmacaan appeals well beyond the Scottish countryside. So much so that in 1929, the Prince of Wales (future King of the United Kingdom, nonetheless) appeared with it during the Epsom Derby, an equestrian competition.

He thus launched the popularity of this coat, later helped by other male figures.

This popularity even reached American campuses in the mid-1930s. Then, a few decades later, catwalk fashion, elegant men in the cinema. Definitely.

We might as well tell you that to showcase yourself whatever the Instagram trend of the moment, we were rather convinced by his 200 years of CV. And even if it means making such an authentic tweed coat, it might as well be a Balmacaan. We were therefore inspired by his lines, while seeking to remain contemporary in their interpretation.

#1: a loose, slightly oversized cut and a generous length that covers the knees.

Scottish lords could thus pile the clothes underneath and brave the cold effectively.

As for you, you can have fun in terms of layering.

This volume also imposes the silhouette and highlights the drape of the tweed. With such a presence, there is no risk of asking for your ID at the entrance to a bar. Even after a clean shave.

Which doesn't mean you'll be drowned in it. Quite the contrary, since you can bend it with its belt which will be at your disposal, hanging from its loops.

And if you really prefer to wear your coats fitted, you can take it one size smaller. I tried it and it works for me. You can also have it shortened to your liking by a retoucher.

#2: a raglan armhole, which starts from the collar rather than the shoulder.

Practical for putting it on in the blink of an eye in the morning without acting like a contortionist, especially when a jacket restricts your shoulders. It was invented for this purpose by Lord Raglan, who had lost his arm in 1815 during the Battle of Waterloo. A few years later, the alleged inventors of the Balmacaan also took it up for another reason: its two panels allow less rain to infiltrate than an ordinary shoulder seam. But hey, we're not going to lie, we especially like this armhole for its style.

#3: a Prussian collar, or turndown collar. We lifted it when the mountain wind attacked, you can do the same when you don't have a scarf.

#4: a front closure, with hidden buttons for a refined look. And then it would be a question of being a minimum modest all the same, with your beautiful horn buttons, there!

#5: two large flap pockets, to slip your hands in when it's freezing, the things you want to keep on hand or both.

#5: one button placket at the bottom of the sleeve, inspired by one of Jordan's favorite coats. We found her beautiful and well proportioned.

So, I hope you enjoyed this presentation…

…because it’s obviously not finished! We weren't going to stop there on the finishes, that would be to misunderstand our habit of adding practical pockets everywhere:

• an interior zipped pocket with a grosgrain zipper,
• a large interior pocket for your hat or gloves, which can dry quickly in this airy mesh. Finish that our co-founder Benoît spotted on an American army fleece.

All these finishes have been chosen and assembled to last, alongside the tweed which is ready to fight: solid horn for the buttons, good quality zips, linings made by an Italian company... all, assembled by the company Lener Cordier , which develops its patterns in France then proceeds with assembly in its workshop in western Ukraine (the latter has also been audited and certified Business Social Compliance Initiative - BSCI - on a set of criteria including employee protection , fair remuneration, working hours, job stability and respect for the environment).

If one day, a detail were to go wrong, you can have it repaired and even contact us for help.

The aim of such a genuine Balmacaan coat, made from Donegal tweed spun and woven right next to its lands of origin, is that its life at your side is as long as its history.

It is a garment known for its tenacity. So if you pass it on to your children or those of your friends one day, the mission of our colleagues who worked on it will be accomplished. If you do it by telling his story, mine will be too.

But hey, we're not in a hurry, are we? So until then, I hope you enjoy wearing this coat as much as we enjoyed trying it on at the office.

Our capsule with exceptional materials, consisting of this coat, a cardigan and an overshirt, is available now on our e-shop and in store.

We will also be live on Instagram this Thursday, November 16 at 6 p.m. with David and Benoît, to show them to you live and answer all your questions!