How Sunspel created the ultimate cashmere jumper
The British brand’s ‘Roxburgh’ is woven from softly spun — yet remarkably hard-wearing — Scottish cashmere from Todd & Duncan…
Cashmere is tougher than it looks. It’s wool, after all — the same stuff that has kept us warm, dry and snug for centuries. And the best wool is woven in Scotland. Shackleton wore Shetland-style jumpers during his polar expeditions. William Speirs Bruce kitted out his Antarctic-bound crew in Fair Isle fisherman knits. And, when Edmund Hillary summited Everest, he did so wearing pullovers spun from Ronas Voe sheep wool.
Sunspel, too, recognises wool’s potential — and the brand’s ‘Roxburgh’ cashmere jumper makes the most of this versatility, weaving elegant form and sturdy function together into one heavy-gauge design. And, while the British outfitters has been based in Nottinghamshire since its 1860 founding, Sunspel — just like those legendary explorers — looks to Scotland for its wool; and the softly spun cashmere of Todd & Duncan.
Todd & Duncan (founded just seven years after Sunspel, in 1867) sits on the banks of Loch Leven in Kinross. But the spinners’ world-class cashmere begins its journey many miles from Scotland, in the wide, weather-beaten expanses of the Gobi Desert. On these rocky plains, a breed of mountain-dwelling Mongolian goats survive thanks to their thick, coarse coats. Yet hidden beneath those bristly guard hairs, a white, downy undercoat is to be found — and this is the key to creating great cashmere.
This underfleece is collected by nomadic herders, who comb it out by hand before sending it on its long journey to Scotland. At Todd & Duncan, the fibres are washed in soft spring water and spun using time-honed techniques that guard against the pilling common in lesser yarns. The fibres are worked and worked — until they becomes Grade-A 15.5-micron cashmere: one of the finest wools in the world.
From Kinross, the yarn makes a shorter journey south to Hawick — a long-standing knitwear town in the heart of Roxburghshire. It’s here, in workshops shaped by generations of expertise, that the cashmere is knitted into its namesake jumper for Sunspel.
It’s a delicate process, and one that allows this heavy-gauge cashmere to retain an unexpected lightness. In the hands of Sunspel’s generational artisans, each Roxburgh jumper — whether in navy, natural brown, mid-grey melange or bark — emerges with a soft handle and neatly ribbed collar, cuffs and hem. Sunspel ensures the fibre’s natural strengths remain intact, too: its breathability, its moisture-wicking ability and its resistance to everything from wind to odour given the regard and reverence it deserves.
But this philosophy has long been at the heart of Sunspel, transforming the finest natural materials into understated, enduring essentials. And the Roxburgh embodies this ethos fully — warm enough for winter yet refined enough for formal occasions. Like the adventurers and explorers who have long respected Scottish knitwear, Sunspel too honours that heritage — but with a piece that would work just as well on a red carpet as it would on a rock face.
Want more classic pieces from Sunspel? Try the Cotton Riviera Long Sleeve Polo Shirt...
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