The revitalisation of a craft economy : The case of Scottish knitting
- Submitting institution
-
The University of Huddersfield
- Unit of assessment
- 32 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
- Output identifier
- 66
- Type
- D - Journal article
- DOI
-
10.1386/csfb.9.2.179_1
- Title of journal
- Critical Studies in Fashion and Beauty
- Article number
- -
- First page
- 179
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 2
- ISSN
- 2040-4417
- Open access status
- Compliant
- Month of publication
- December
- Year of publication
- 2018
- URL
-
-
- Supplementary information
-
-
- Request cross-referral to
- -
- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
-
0
- Research group(s)
-
-
- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- This article is concerned with Scottish knitwear design and female entrepreneurship since the 1980s, tracing the history and development of the sector – from local craft to global business – and offering a new analysis of its expansion. While much is known about the culture and tradition of Scottish knitting, less is known about the interface between knitting and entrepreneurship. This article makes an important intervention in the existing literature around craft entrepreneurship (specifically recent work by Abrams and Moskowitz at The University of Glasgow) by examining the issue from the perspective of the entrepreneurs themselves, thus offering a rigorous micro case-study that is useful in a macro context.
This article addresses that gap in scholarship by considering the divergent experiences of two knitwear design entrepreneurs and sheds new light on how the sector has expanded in the intervening years. The research process involved oral history interviews with knitwear design entrepreneurs in Scotland between 1980 and 2017. It argues that through the production of design, rather than the manufacture of garments, Scottish knitwear entrepreneurs have developed ‘authentic’ Scottish craft products that can be disseminated digitally – ultimately creating a digital design industry based on notions of history, tradition, and heritage. It demonstrates how such entrepreneurial endeavours have been supported by the initiatives of the present Scottish government; their efforts to expand trading opportunities with the Scottish diaspora and nurture a productive business environment for craft entrepreneurship has been instrumental in the renaissance of the Scottish knitting industry, and been the main catalyst to growth for many craft businesses.
The main insight of this article was setting out the factors that have contributed to Scotland becoming the ideal habitat for fashion entrepreneurship founded on domestic craft and design products. It is of value in social, educational, political and economic contexts.
- Author contribution statement
- -
- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
- -
