Harris Tweed cloth – Clo Mor (Gaelic for ‘The Big Cloth’) – is the only fabric in the world governed by its own Act of Parliament and the only fabric produced in commercial quantities by truly traditional methods.

Harris Tweed has a rare character and beauty. Hundreds of distinctive patterns have been developed over centuries, each one unique, but unmistakably Harris Tweed.

Unusually, the wool is dyed before being spun, allowing a multitude of colours to be blended into the yarn, creating a cloth of great depth and complexity. From time immemorial, the inhabitants of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland have woven a beautiful and intricate cloth the world knows simply as Harris Tweed.

At the heart of the Harris Tweed industry is the relationship between the weavers and the mills.

The Harris Tweed weaver is an artisan, the master of the loom in the same way a musician is of their instrument. Each loom has its own sound and idiosyncrasies and only the weaver will know how to get the best from it. It can take a long time to ready the loom for weaving a new cloth. Once weaving, they may create as many as four metres of tweed per hour, watching constantly for flaws as they go.However, the weaver is only part of the story. Without the skill of the millworkers, there would be no yarn to weave. Dozens of specialised jobs take place in the mill sheds. There are professional wool dyers and blenders, yarn spinners and warpers, cloth finishers and stampers and many more roles in between.

From croft to catwalk, the men and women of the islands take great pride in their work, the results of which can be seen in every piece of the Big Cloth that leaves their shores.

The islanders of Lewis, Harris, Uist and Barra had long been recognised for the excellence of their weaving. However, up until the middle of the nineteenth century, their cloth was used only on their crofts or sold at local markets.

In 1846, Lady Dunmore, widow of the the landowner of Harris, the Earl of Dunmore, had the clan tartan replicated by Harris weavers in tweed. The results proved so successful that she began to devote much time and effort to marketing the tweed to her wealthy friends further afield.

As a result, sales of the island cloth were soon established with merchants across the country.

Harris Tweed became sought after in the highest social circles and, across the Outer Hebrides, weavers began contributing to the rising demand. Between 1903 and 1906 the tweed-making industry was in full swing and, in Lewis, carding and spinning mills were built to meet ever-increasing orders. With tweed gaining popularity it became clear that steps were needed to protect the good name of Harris Tweed cloth from imitations.

A meeting was held in Stornoway in 1906 to discuss a system whereby the tweed was inspected and, if passed, given a certifying stamp that would give confidence to the trade and public. In 1909, The Harris Tweed Association Limited was formed to register the famous Orb and Maltese Cross with the words Harris Tweed underneath as a trademark. This certification mark was registered in 1910 and stamping began in 1911.

In 1934, the trademark definition was altered to allow the use of island millspun yarn in addition to handspun, enabling the industry to make a huge leap in production. The stamped yardage increased tenfold and continued to increase till the peak figure of 7.6 million yards was reached in 1966.

In the early 1990s, the industry set out to transform and modernise itself by producing a double width loom, re-training weavers, introducing tougher standards and marketing a new wider, softer, lighter tweed. This work was consolidated when the Harris Tweed Authority took over from the Harris Tweed Association as a result of the 1993 Act of Parliament. Thus, the definition of Harris Tweed cloth became statutory and forever tied the cloth to the Islands.