Harris Tweed - Rückkehr einer Legende

On the Hebrides, off the northwest coast of Scotland, the weather is rough and the landscape rugged. On most days, a fresh wind is blowing. People are hardy around here, a fact that also expresses itself in what they are wearing. Inspired by the colors of the landscape, Harris Tweed is the aristocrat among tweeds, woven on the islands for centuries. Today, the fabric is making a comeback, thanks in part to new customers like Nike and Chanel. Today, Harris Tweed celebrates a lifestyle. 218 women and men are weaving tweed again - exclusively in homework. Because that is the condition for obtaining a license. 360° GEO Reportage visited the island and its weavers. Rebecca Hutton is on the lookout for a new pattern. The 35-year-old weaver wants to try something new, away from the common patterns her compatriots produce on their home looms for the island's large spinning mills. At the end of the 19th century, the rough woolen fabric that protected farmers and fishermen from wet and cold became the noble cloth of the British aristocracy. Until the 1960s it was in great demand. After that, the fabric fell into oblivion. 2006 was almost the end. Harris Tweed could no longer compete with cheap textiles from the Far East. Many residents had to leave the islands to find work elsewhere. Today, durable and sustainable goods are once again in high demand. Clò-Mòr, the big cloth, as Harris Tweed is called in Gaelic, is in demand. Rebecca Hutton has therefore returned to her home island. Her parents were not weavers. But the fact that she can now take up her grandparents' legacy again means a lot to her. Like all weavers, she works at home. That's the way it's prescribed. The name Harris Tweed has been protected by law since 1993. The fabric must be made of pure new wool, and the yarn may only be spun and dyed in the Outer Hebrides. The biggest customer is Great Britain for classic jackets and interior design. But Japan, with a penchant for accessories in garish plaid fabrics, has also played a part in Harris Tweed's resurgence. The influence of Parisian fashion houses has further boosted its popularity enormously. In order to maintain interest in their fabric, weavers have had to continue to find new markets. Among other things, with new patterns. Rebecca Hutton has found what she is looking for. Now she just has to manage to reweave the complicated old pattern.