Common Thread

At Johnstons of Elgin, a remote wool mill in the Scottish Highlands, Shane C. Kurup explores a prestigious fashion history

THE WORD ELGIN may conjure an infamous set of Greek marbles, but this small town of the same name in Morayshire, in the northeast of Scotland, has solid links with another treasured commodity: cashmere.

When I arrive from Inverness Airport, about 45 minutes away, Elgin and its sandstone houses strike me as relatively unassuming.

But the region is both a gateway to the Highlands and home to an illustrious past. Nearby stands Sueno's Stone, a colossal stele carved by the Pict people of Scotland in the ninth century. The area was also once the site of Forres Castle, where Shakespeare placed Macbeth after his ascent to power. Elgin itself had ties with several kings and was the seat of the Diocese of Moray, as the ruins of Elgin Cathedral attest.

The town is also where Johnstons of Elgin, which began manufacturing fine knitwear on the banks of the River Lossie in 1797, spins its yarn. The river once powered its looms via wood waterwheels, and the pure, soft water is still used today to wash cashmere. James Johnston, the son of founder Alexander Johnston, was fascinated with the fiber and transformed the mill into Britain's primary source for luxury woolens and estate tweeds.