A visit to Hand & Lock embroiders and Alice Made This

I love visiting factories and workshops to see British-made menswear and accessories. So many of these businesses date back a century or more. Hand & Lock are no exception; they've produced the finest hand embroidery since 1767. 

Traditional military and ceremonial embroidery and gold work

Contemporary embroidery work

As with so many other UK manufacturers I've see, they haven't allowed the grass to grow under their feet. While they still produce military regalia and insignia, they do this alongside some very contemporary and fashion-oriented work (see above). 

My visit was arranged by Alice Made This whose cufflinks and lapel pins I've featured before here. Below I wear a borrowed example of Hand & Lock's work for  Alice Made This. 

Wearing the Alice Made This Milne lapel pin: £195

One significant difference to many of the other businesses I've visited is that the workforce is very young. It's a sad fact that most skilled hand manufacturing businesses seem to depend on migrant workers or those over 40. Why the UK cannot attract its youth to the glamour and satisfaction of making things is a much-discussed issue - but it was refreshing to see so many young people working away on the detailed, intricate and highly skilled work required of an embroiderer.

I saw examples both old and new of the goldwork and other embroidery for which Hand & Lock is famous. The company came into being when M. Hand and S. Lock merged in 2000. Before that date S. Lock worked on couture for the Royal Family and top design houses, while M. Hand (the original Mr Hand had been a Huguenot lacemaker from Flanders) focused on traditional military and ceremonial embroidery. This mix is reflected in the wide range of work being carried out, from high fashion to very traditional ceremonial embroidery.

I was shown how original designs are transferred from tracing paper by pricking round a drawing and then saw the fine work of cutting and placing the fine coils of gold thread (actually two percent gold) called bullions to make up the designs. A machine (called  bullion twist) twists the gold wire to make each bullion. Everything is done by hand.

The lapel pins of Alice Made This are each a celebration of the goldwork traditions and skills displayed by Hand & Lock for military and ceremonial wear. Each piece, made in London, uses skills applied for hundreds of years. To see more, visit Alice Made This. See Hand & Lock for more on the skills used to make their products.

Campbell and Aldringham lapel pins from Alice Made This (£205 to £220)

[Note: this is an unsponsored feature, I have received no gifts or payment].