Pretty Polly, the Future of British Legwear

Last week, Dawn and Jonathan visited the mighty Belper of Derbyshire for a meeting with Courtalds, the company that make Pretty Polly. This sprawling Xanadu is host to the oldest factory in Britain, the one we had the great pleasure of touring.

If you’re not familiar with the video we posted of the Trasparenze factory, we highly recommend it. You’d be amazed at how complex and wondrous a process it takes to make those tights your wearing right now.

When Dawn walked into the first knitting rooms, she was quite taken aback. She’d seen similar machines in Italy, but nothing on this scale. The room was colossal. A vast stretch of machines all clicking and scraping away for the single purpose of making next season’s fashion tights.

Phil, the Operations Director for the UK, explained it all. A single machine, 400 revolutions per minute each with 400 needles, every last one twisting a new length of nylon every time, never missing a beat.

Taking a look at the dying room is enough to make you dizzy. The huge vats and drains taller than any person there. They actually have indoor cranes!

As the circuit finishes, you’re lead back to the conference rooms. Here’s where we pull out the writing pads and cheque books, jotting down rather big numbers on both.

The range that really struck us was the new Henry Holland collection. The name of Henry Holland is a rapidly growing on the London fashion scene and in the next few weeks, his latest work will show you exactly why this is. Any doubters you might hear, if they know what “good design” means, will have to eat their words.

If you’d like to see the video we put together of our Pretty Polly tour, subscribe to our videos for free here and you’ll get an email once it’s finished. As for the new Pretty Polly and Aristoc designs, they should be arriving with us very soon. The best way to keep an eye on new Pretty Polly and Henry Holland designs is through our newsletter. Or, if you’ve liked what you’ve read so far, and you’ not already, sign up for free updates from this blog here or pop your email address in the box at the top.

We’re very excited for the new Pretty Polly lingerie and hosiery pieces, and for some classics that’ll be put under the magnifying glass. But we’re entering dangerous territory again. Just keep your eyes peeled for our new Pretty Polly range and we can guarantee that you won’t be disappointed.