My name is Anna, and I am a jumperholic
But not just any old jumpers, Anna Murphy only wears the finest knits. Here she reveals her favourite niche brands — and how to make wearing a jumper glamorous
Hello. My name is Anna and I’m a jumperholic. There is nothing that makes me happier than a really good knit. Which is lucky because I live in the right country for it. And this is the right month for it. As is — all too often, if you run as cold as I do — August.
There’s never been a better time to have a jumper problem. Clearly I am not the only jumperholic out there. The front row is full of sweaters these days — as were a fair few glamorous bashes I went to last month. Not just any old knits, but creations of notable gorgeousness, often paired with a bottom half that would, until very recently, have been unimaginable at such events.
I, for example, wore my X-Ray Spex crewneck from the boutique British brand Hades (£225, hades-shop.co.uk) — a homage to the 1970s punk band made, like all its sweaters, from lamb’s wool milled in the Pennines and hand-crafted in Hawick — with a houndstooth sequin skirt. It was among my favourite looks of the year. And now that same knit is delivering sterling January service worn with velour track pants and (whisper it) thermals. For me a great knit is the ultimate in investment shopping.
Hades is just one of the small specialist — not to mention special — brands that I want to tell you about. Because while some jumperholics simply wear jumpers and love jumpers (me!), others have had the wherewithal to set up their own business. The idea that a sweater is nothing to sweat over is anathema to an operation such as Hades, which is so into the detail that it even tells you who hand-crafted your knit. (Thank you, Shirley, Shelia, Finlay & Sharon.) Hades is not only about quality but about quirkiness, its band knits referencing retro greats such as David Bowie (“Hunky Dory” reads one tank) and Blondie (“Call Me” says another crewneck). It also does a great Alphabet crew, plus V-neck cardigans with four different buttons, each one a miniature sculpture of a figure from Greek myth.
A different kind of quirkiness comes by way of a couple of other favourite brands of mine. The first is Bernadette Antwerp, which produces knits so beauteous as to stop traffic. Staying overnight with the fashion pack for a Chanel show last month, it took me ten minutes to get across the breakfast room thanks to my lily of the valley-strewn navy chenille zip cardigan (£760, bernadetteantwerp.com). Person after person stopped me to ask, “Where is that from?”
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There is nothing quite like Bernadette’s combination of simple lines with stunning detail, be that an outsize grey V-neck patterned with a bouquet of snowy tulips or a sunshine yellow cableknit turtleneck with black abstracted floral intarsia. The results are just the right mix of effortless and effortful, while also — needless to say — being cosy.
La Fetiche is also all about point-of-difference detail, its approach more about contrasting colours or the occasional bit of “wrong” — an apparently unravelling thread or carefully placed hole — that looks very much right. Its Percy fuchsia lambswool jumper has one scarlet sleeve and navy cuff, for example (£395, lafetiche.com).
For superlative simplicity, on the other hand, I oscillate between the Amsterdam-based mainly unisex Extreme Cashmere — its cropped cashmere crewneck number 167, designed for women, is quite simply the loveliest I have ever come across (£694, extreme-cashmere.com). The lamb’s wool Bansha Fair Isle jumper (available in dark brown or grey as a sweater, and cream as a cardigan) from the British brand &Daughter, which has just celebrated its ten-year anniversary, is the perfect example of what they do so well — a certain classicism delivered in such a way as to feel contemporary too (£325, and-daughter.com).
Buffy Reid founded the brand with her father, the son of a hardcore Irish knitter, “who passed that knowledge and passion on to her son. He made his life’s work Irish and Scottish knitwear of the highest quality.” Now, Reid produces her collection with many of the connections originally forged by him. “We work with five yarns and five makers, and we know them all,” she says. “We share a common desire to create the best knitwear in the best way.”
On the subject of keeping things simple, one more new discovery for me is the unisex Danish operation Andersen-Andersen, which took inspiration from Denmark’s traditional sailor knit. The married couple behind the label grew up wearing versions of this turtleneck that had been passed down through their families. Like the originals that inspired it, their navy turtleneck is symmetrical (from £310, andersen-andersen.com). “In the past, this helped sailors to dress in the dark on board a ship,” says Catherine Lundgren-Andersen. “Today, we continue the tradition and include a new purpose — rotating a sweater often can reduce wear in a single spot, extending its life.” An investment indeed.
