This year, Aran Woollen Mills is proudly celebrating 60 years of business.
Over the last six decades, we have been supported by a huge community of staff members, customers and clients and we couldn't be more grateful for every single cog in the Aran Woollen Mills wheel. However, we must give huge credit where credit is due, and tip our hats to the women who have shaped not only our own business but the Aran knitwear industry that we are so proudly a part of. The role of female influence in the national and global impact of Aran knitwear is nothing short of astounding and when we take a moment to reflect on the last 60 years, women and their unwavering creativity, devotion and hard work have been the cornerstone to our success.
A craft protected and preserved by Women
To accurately celebrate the role of female influence in our industry, we have
to take ourselves back to the late 1800s. Talented and devoted women took a plentiful resource from the rugged landscape on the west coast of Ireland and crafted thick, weatherproof Aran sweaters for men at sea, designed to last, keep them warm and protect them, with symbols of safety, abundance and luck. These sweaters reflected the harsh reality of life at sea as they were expertly crafted to withstand the stinging spray of the waves, the bitter bite of cold winds and long days and nights battling with the elements. The men may have been the ones on the boats, grappling with nets, but it was the women who crafted the clothing to make their work possible. The craft wasn’t easy but was perfected by rural, dedicated women who saw it as a means to support their families. At this point, Aran sweater production was a necessity more than a fashion statement. A response from the women of Ireland to rural, coastal life. These women are the pioneers of Aran knitwear and it’s with their knowledge that Aran Woollen Mills still thrives today.
Máire Hughes and her forward-thinking mind.
In 1965 in this same coastal area on the West of Ireland, Máire Hughes, the founder of Aran Woollen Mills led with an entrepreneurial mindset and an eye on a brighter future for the women of her community. At this time, it was expected that women would remain in the home after they were married. With large families as big as 12, 15 and 20, women were expected to take on the role of domestic duties and the raising of children, leaving them not a lot of time to venture outside and maintain demanding careers. Máire saw an opportunity for women to receive the best of both worlds and started her own clothing boutique, Carraig Donn. This way, she could bring work to the women of the community that they could do from within the home and support them to find balance with their familial demands. In 1965, this was an extremely liberal and forward-thinking approach. Not only was Máire building on the local economy within her community, but she was also the one spearheading it. The unwavering spirit and fire in Máire’s belly for the craft which still runs through every fibre of our knitwear today and her undeniable female tenacity is what we always aspire to, 60 years later.
The women that place Aran on the Global Stage
It’s quite incredible to think that over the last 60 years, Irish knitwear that came from such humble beginnings has now found a permanent place in the fashion history books and continues to be worn across numerous high fashion spaces. We often think about The Clancy Brothers and how they skyrocketed the impact and influence of Aran knitwear across the globe, but we cannot forget about the huge female influence that made Aran knitwear something desirable, fashionable and sought after. Grace Kelly (also known as Princess Grace of Monaco) was one of the most iconic figures within pop culture who popularised the traditional Aran sweater. Grace wore a traditional cream sweater with cable stitching on the cover of Vogue and again while she enjoyed some downtime on her yacht and the world went crazy for this new and exciting fashion phenomenon. After this we had Marilyn Monroe sporting her own Aran sweater and still to this day, we have female icons wearing Aran knitwear as undeniable fashion statements. Most recently, Taylor Swift released her album “Folklore” and her title image was a beautiful Aran sweater with bold, beautifully crafted honeycomb and cable stitching. The power of female influence on the industry’s global success is nothing short of incredible and we couldn’t be more proud to see the craft move from the rugged, rural landscape of Ireland to the glitz and glamour of the world stage.
The Women that keep up moving
As a brand that started with one incredible woman’s vision, we’ve been
lucky to continuously be supported by the minds, talent and warmth of 100s of women over the last 60 years. At the moment, Aran Woollen Mills is home to 75 female staff members who support us from the design and conception of new pieces to the careful crafting of these ideas into reality and the marketing and storytelling of our brand that brings Irish craft into the global light. We couldn’t be more excited about the mass of female minds that keep our brand alive and the impact they’ve continually made over the last 60 years.
Here’s to another 6 decades of women in wool. The future is exciting and we’re here to celebrate that.
Check out our current women’s collection at this link.
