Hello and welcome to episode 323 of the Make it British Podcast. I'm back with another episode in my Women in Wool series, this time chatting to knitwear designer Frankie Davies from Charl Knitwear.
Frankie spent years designing knitwear for Burberry and Benetton and has spent much of her career inside knitwear factories, so it was only ever a matter of time before she founded her own brand. In this episode, Frankie talks about her use of British wool, the benefits of working with UK factories and how that differs from working with manufacturers in Italy, as well as the challenges of running your own business when you have small children, which I'm sure many of you listening can relate to.
In this episode we cover:
How Frankie went from designing the womenswear knitwear range at Burberry to launching her own British wool brand
Why she uses three different British wools and what each one brings to the range.
The reality of developing a unique British wool yarn.
Making in both the UK and Italy, and why she chose that route.
How she timed launching the business around having her children.
About Charl Knitwear
Charl Knitwear is a British knitwear brand founded by Frankie Davies, a designer with over 20 years of experience working for luxury fashion houses including Burberry and Benetton. Inspired by the Norfolk fisherman's Gansey, the brand combines heritage stitch traditions with a contemporary approach to British fibre and manufacturing.
You can find Frankie and Charl Knitwear at:
Website: charlknitwear.co.uk
Instagram: @charlknitwear
🚀 Ready to scale your UK-made brand? Apply for the British Brand Accelerator at makeitbritish.co.uk/apply
Follow Kate @makeitbritish on Instagram
New Zealand