Barrington Ayre can offer a complete range of John Smedley knitwear, so if you can't find what you are after on our website please contact us either by emailing info@barringtonayre.co.uk or call us on 0845 300 9014
John Smedley - English made jumpers
John Smedley has been making fine knitwear in Derbyshire, England for over 200 years. The family business was there at the birth of the industrial revolution, back when the factories and looms were being built. That is the heritage that they are so proud of. And not to be dismissed lightly.
The yarn used is produced using the specially-sourced long fibres required for worsted spinning, handled with age-old craftsmanship, spun with space-age technology. In 1877 John Smedley was one of the first in the fledgling knitwear industry to install one of the newfangled ;Cotton's Patent' knitting machines. The company is as up with the times now as then. Our garments are considered no less luxurious today then they were over a century ago either. Indeed, since then we've worked out how to blend other natural and noble fibres, including cashmere and silk. It's a talent for knitwear that we like to think is unsurpassed.
For a top quality product, you need top quality materials. John Smedley uses only the best strains of Sea Island Cotton, to be branded 'John Smedley's Sea Island Cotton' and extra fine Merino Wool (Merino Wool comes from the second or third sheering of a sheep when the fibre is thicker and more durable) to give our knitwear its distinctive lightness and smoothness of touch. We trace our wool back to the individual sheep station in New Zealand. The farmers could probably name the individual sheep.