Posted on July 6th, 2022.

There is a certain pleasure in recognising something that has been well made. Good design is about using materials that are fit for purpose. The product has to be aesthetically pleasing, has to be functional – and if it has extra character to it, too, well, then that's something else.

It is always possible to tell when someone cares about what they're making. At my father's allotment I've enjoyed watching a chap take leeks out of the ground, wash them, line them up carefully. I'm always looking for that quality in any person who might come and work for our company.

One reason I look for that care is because I think for someone to make something that's going to last, there is undoubtedly an amount of love as well as skill that goes into that. And things that last are important. I'm happy to pay more for something if I see it as an investment. I would rather spend £80 on a saucepan if it means that I'll be buying one that lasts. I've always felt that about things, rather than thinking something is too expensive. I've noticed that the French think like that about clothes – they'll have fewer but better quality.

Even when I had no money I'd save up and travel to London to buy a Cacharel shirt. It's about knowing what you want and saving for it. I have a 1980s Bang & Olufsen portable radio – the sound is so good, the design is very streamlined and it's visually so nice. Good quality rides over to everything, though. It can be apparent in something like a cotton T-shirt that has faded well – it doesn't have to be expensive. I prefer clothes that get better with age – cotton raincoats that get softer, moleskin that wears in well. We should respect what it takes to produce something that is of a quality to last, and I feel we should be thinking about that now, especially in terms of protecting the environment. We should be more careful with our water, with everything.

Hand in hand with good manufacture is having an edited approach to dressing. I like to have only a few clothes in the wardrobe that I wear and wear. I'm not somebody who has lots of different things (apart from notebooks – I'm a sucker for stationery). In design, I prefer to get something right rather than the more commercial attitude of doing it in lots of different colours. I really don't like that thing of going and buying very cheap clothes and throwing them away.

Persuading people to this viewpoint isn't hard when you can actually get them to experience good design. Experiencing something that has worn well in a good quality material that gets better with age, that makes you feel fond of it. It's like getting to know a person you really like – you don't just dispense with them. I don't understand how people can throw Anglepoise lamps away. I've pulled quite a few out of skips.

I probably have this attitude from being brought up after the war. You got used to mending things. My father always said: "If a job is worth doing, it is worth doing well." That seeps into you, I think. I used to love finding something at a jumble sale and cleaning it up. I remember finding an old shirt at the jumbles and really loving the cloth and the tiny stitches it was made with. That made me want to be in control of making something like that. I've always been a maker-designer in that way, not a fashion designer.

Recently the Made In Britain campaign has been getting louder. On the whole I'm in favour of it, but I don't think you can put back the clock. I wouldn't suddenly let down the manufacturing we do elsewhere simply to be made in Britain: we go where the work is good, it's a global industry now. One wants to support those who make a great product. Our knitwear is made mostly in Scotland.

For the manufacturing industry to thrive in Britain it needs investment to build nice, light factories. Younger people also need to be employed – currently it is a problem because of the poor wages. Also, good quality knitwear comes from handed-down knowledge, and you can only do that when an older person is teaching the next person to come into the trade. Good manufacture isn't all mechanised. It's about knowing and handling and about visual things as well. It's common sense fl

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