John Smedley factory tour

Back at the start of last year I did a piece on British knitwear mainstay, John Smedley (find that here). I’m a big fan of the brand and have been wearing their jumpers for years now – I bought my first about 10 years ago and I’ve been buying their fine gauge knitwear ever since.

Recently I met the brand’s Creative Director Dawne Stubbs, upon which I asked if it was possible to do a tour of the factory. Much to my delight the answer was yes, so last Tuesday morning I jumped on the train from London up to Cromford in Derbyshire to be given a personal tour of the place.

My tour guide was John Mumby, the now retired Technical Manager of the factory and an encyclopedia of a man. With over 30 years of experience working for Smedley, he intrinsically knew every part of the manufacturing process and every nook and cranny of what is a labyrinth of a building. The premises has expanded a lot over the years, all of which has taken place around the original building, which has in turn put the 227 year old section right at the heart of the factory.

What outwardly seems to be quite simple – get some wool (or Sea Island cotton), get a knitting machine, make some jumpers is absolutely nothing of the sort. Starting with the yarn, this is at first ‘conditioned’ – bringing it all to the same level of humidity and washing it with a special conditioning fluid, meaning that the raw material is at its optimum for transforming into the fine gauge knitwear Smedley is renowned for.

Each and every cone of spun wool needs to be exactly the same – too dry and the thread comes up short, too damp and it comes up long, add these together over the course of making knitwear and you’ve got a recipe for trouble, which is why such great lengths are taken right at the beginning to make sure everything is perfect. And over the course of the tour this attention to quality was apparent at every stage of the production process.

As we continued around the shop floor, next were the labs – this is where all of the dye testing is done and where new colours are made for each season by careful mixing and sampling. All of the dyeing is done in house, either to finished garments or to the raw ecru yarn that is now spun for the factory by Zegna Baruffa in Italy.

Fabric swatches and even full garments are also tested here for colour retention and shrinkage, which is done by basically washing them to almost destruction, in a manner they would never be normally. Pilling is measured by taking 5cm square samples, attaching them to rubber tubes and placing them in a device with an abrasive inner and rotating them for hours at a time to simulate constant wear. All of this ensures that any product that carries the Smedley name will last the test of time, and the fact that I still wear jumpers by the label that I bought nearly a decade ago backs this up.

Moving on to the factory floor you’re greeted by the perfect example of old meeting new. Stood alongside each other are machines custom made for the factory over 60 years ago still in operation and the hugely expensive, modern and fully automated machines by Shima of Japan (that can produce an entire and very complex garment in one single go).

Panels are produced by British made S.A. Monk machines, most in the 1960’s. Italian Protti’s busily make cuffs and ribbing and if you ever wondered why the collar on a Smedley polo shirt is unlike any other it’s down to this – the machines specifically made for the task by H.Stoll & Co back in the 1950’s, they’re unique and they’re a hugely important part of how the factory does things.

When the garments are made and given a final wash (in the water from the spring which once powered the factory and what many consider another important aspect of giving this knitwear it’s incredibly soft handle), it’s time for them to be pressed before moving upstairs to be hand finished.

Whilst the bulk of the pressing is now done by mechanised means, some items, such as the companies long standing product the Long John, are still pressed using the original Apple wood jigs and large hand operated two bed steam press. Again, unlike many factories which would take everything old out and replace it with new, the Smedley way is to use the things that have always done the task they were built for brilliantly.

Because knitwear by its very nature is delicate, after this process the product is once again checked for quality. Any defects, no matter how small (even a tiny slub is considered a defect and will try to be rectified) are marked and sent upstairs for repairs by hand. Only perfect product will be sold, and because the factory tries to keep waste to an absolute minimum, what the ladies on the repair benches do is of vital importance.

As well as any repair work a garment needs, upstairs is also where the cutting of collars, linking of arms and hand-stiching of trims are all done. Whilst there I watched a V-neck being cut ready for it’s collar – the center of the jumper is found, then a template is placed on top, lined up, marked (some of the machines can now mark out the collars, simply by missing a stitch as they go) and cut out. After this the collar trims are then stitched into place and the jumper finished.

Taking a pair of scissors to a newly made garment isn’t something I’d want to be doing, but it’s a simple and easy affair in the hands of someone skilled, and there’s plenty of skill visible in the finishing department. It also shows that these techniques are still not only alive and well at the factory, but also vital – a huge part of the way these pieces of knitwear look and feel is down to techniques like the hand-linking of sleeves to body panels and so on.

Once a garment is finished the signature and care labels are stitched inside, it’s pressed for a final time and then there’s a full and rigorous quality control inspection. It’s only when this is passed that the the products are folded, bagged up and boxed, ready to be sent out to stockists.

It was a pleasure to be given access to the factory and a big thank you goes out to Dawne for saying yes in the first place and organising everything and John for showing me round the factory in amazing detail. It was a great experience to get an insight into how the knitwear I’ve been a fan of for so long is produced and the people and machines behind it.

For more information on the brand, to find your nearest stockist or to shop online, go to the website here: John Smedley.