LONDON — One of the taglines for the British knitwear label &Daughter is “In Praise of Slowness.” Staying true to that motto, the company has expanded into the men’s category after 10 years in business.
The brand said that in recent years more male customers have been purchasing pieces from the womenswear offering so it was time to broaden the offer and make it as democratic as possible.
“What’s so interesting about knitwear now is that it feels increasingly quite a genderless product and really much more about personal preference,” said Buffy Reid, the brand’s founder.
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“It’s how you like to wear something — whether you like it more fitted or oversize. I think we’ll see women buying the new menswear pieces — and vice versa,” she added.
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Reid said that over the last few years she’s seen an “unprecedented level of demand. Part of that has been from a growing men’s customer.”
She added that men’s knitwear design codes have always underpinned &Daughter’s aesthetic “from our very first collection. We often take inspiration from traditional men’s styles, like a granddad cardigan or slouchy crew, and recraft them for women.”
The &Daughter label is a specialist brand working mainly in wool and cashmere. It follows the Woolmark Best Practice initiative and many of the factories it works with are family owned and based in Donegal, Ireland, or Scotland.
“We want to do one thing and do it exceptionally well, so now felt like the right time to introduce menswear and make the product proposition foundational in its broadest sense,” Reid said.
The first men’s collection takes 10 of the brand’s signature pieces and recrafts them for a male silhouette, with pieces such as a sports-inspired polo, a rib zip jacket or collegiate V-neck sweater, which comes in shades of navy, gray, black, poppy red, blush pink or green.
Reid considers the pieces to be the “foundational knitwear styles that underpin both men’s and women’s sweater dressing.”
The men’s range starts at 295 pounds and goes up to 495 pounds.
Following the demand for &Daughter’s sweaters, the brand is opening pop-up in New York City in November in collaboration with Beverly’s Shop on Orchard Street.
The brand is also launching a modern heirloom collection in December, which highlights the handcraft of Donegal tweed with pieces made in the town of Donegal, on the west coast of Ireland.