Waring Brooke: made-to-order British knitwear from the Nottinghamshire countryside

Nottinghamshire's knitting heritage stretches back centuries, and one rural studio is giving it a thoroughly modern twist. Waring Brooke is a Nottinghamshire knitwear brand based in the village of Widmerpool, creating luxurious, wearable pieces under a simple promise: made in Britain.

The brand was founded in 2017 and began trading in 2018. Founder Samantha Brooke previously worked for Max Studio and Alberta Ferretti, and spent time in China, where she saw at first hand the waste and dye pollution created by the fashion industry. "I used to see the disruption and waste that came out of the fashion industry there. It horrified me," she told LeftLion.

That experience shaped everything about Waring Brooke. Pieces are knitted in-house on a STOLL industrial knitting machine, and every garment is knitted, linked, washed and pressed on site. Everything is made to order to reduce waste, and Samantha describes the approach as ethical, with each piece made thoughtfully by a happy team in-house.

Even the studio's setting is part of the story. Samantha grew up around her family's wood waste business, and the studio sits on a green waste recycling site in Widmerpool, where wood waste from across the Midlands is turned into wood chips and burned in a biomass power plant that generates electricity for the studio and the wider area. Yarn comes from a company in nearby Leicester.

The collections are full of character. There are knitted tops, ponchos, skirts and co-ords, along with blankets, headbands, snoods and shooting socks. Personalised pieces translate customers' initials into geometric patterns, and several animal designs, including a stallion and a boxing hare, are based on paintings by Samantha's late mother.

Recognition has followed. Samantha was a finalist in the Great British Entrepreneur Awards in 2021 in the Made in the UK category, the brand joined a network of UK stockists that year, and it has been featured in YOU Magazine and GRAZIA.

For anyone looking for a jumper that will last, made thoughtfully by people who care, Waring Brooke is a lovely Nottinghamshire find.

The full range, including personalised knitwear, is available on the Waring Brooke website, which also lists upcoming events and stockists.