Designer outlet: Kirsty Neil of Bute Fabrics

Looking back on its history helps the firm produce innovative cloths, inspired by the landscape, using sustainable components.

Head designer, Kirsty Neil, explains: “The mill was set up by the 5th Marquis of Bute to create employment for returning servicemen from the Second World War. He took on an 18th-Century cotton mill and started a cottage industry, weaving on traditional dobby looms.”

From the beginning the fabric was 100 per cent wool and its naturally coloured tweeds, popular with country gentry, were stocked by the likes of Harrods and Liberty in London.

The Bute Collection, pictured here against the backdrop of the marble-clad Mount Stuart

It was soon spotted in haute couture shows in Paris, with houses including Balenciaga, Nina Ricci and Pierre Cardin all designing with Bute cloth.

The firm moved into creating fabric for interiors in the 1970s.

Kirsty says: “By the 1980s, we were working with [furniture designers] Herman Miller and Knoll designing for furniture collections or for seating, workspaces, auditoria and hospitality. Because we use mostly wool it is naturally hard wearing.”

However, in the last decade the firm has also designed and supplied fabrics for individuals. Kirsty explains: “We have a stock service collection which encompasses a broad range of cloths, primarily from natural fibres, which are more luxurious. They still withstand heavy use but will include softer yarns, mixed with cashmere, silk or linen.”

Customers can buy direct and the minimum order from the collection is just one metre. Kirsty says: “We have had a lot of inquiries over lockdown from people who want beautiful curtains, furniture upholstery and cushions. You can order on the website but we love having customers come to the mill to look at what we can do.

“I think the end-user, more and more, wants to be able to see where the fabric is from. Consumers want to have that traceability – and they like that their fabric is designed and manufactured on the island.”

In creating bespoke fabric, Bute’s team of four designers will not have only designed the cloth, but in some cases asked the spinners to create new yarns for each.

Kirsty’s background is in both apparel and interiors. A textile graduate, she spent time designing linens for M&S and Next and then luxury fashion items for Alex Begg of Ayr, which led her to Tokyo, specialising in the Japanese market.

She recalls: “I started working with Bute Fabrics in 2017, which I saw as a unique opportunity. It is a small mill and we are working hard to re-establish the fashion brand from decades ago, as well as redeveloping fabrics for the residential interiors market, so my background was a good fit.

The Bute family are still very much involved. Their home on the island, Mount Stuart, and its spectacular marble interiors, provide the perfect backdrop for photoshoots.

Johnny Bute – aka, John Crichton-Stuart, 7th Marquess of Bute – sadly died this year, but Kirsty says his legacy lives on. “He’d invested so much so we have the best equipment, including a warp mill, which is the first of its kind in the UK, and bespoke to our needs.”

“We have such a huge range of capabilities. We are only 50 people, but we are all ages.

“The late Marquis focused on employing young people on the island, and they are learning skills from specialists who have worked here for 40 years, carrying on the tradition.”