The British worsted fabric manufacturer Alfred Brown is experiencing strong growth in its export sales as it reaps the rewards of an increased focus on its overseas markets.
The family-run business, based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, specialises in fine worsted fabrics in pure new wool and wool with mohair.
Japan remains the company’s most important export market, and joint managing director Nigel Brown told WTiN that it continues to consolidate its position as a key supplier of quality Made in England fabric to Japan.
“Alfred Brown is well-known in Japan for our classic traditional suiting ranges, and we are known for fabrics that we believe will outperform expectations in wear,” he says. “This is still very much part of our product ethos and we keep this foremost in mind with all our suiting ranges.
“We use traditional yarns and a very British construction that lends itself to our tailoring tradition. This is still very much in demand in Japan.
“Our popular fabrics in Japan are always pure new wool, such as a classic 2x2 twill at 290 gms clear cut.”
He adds that its fabrics are constantly updated to meet new trends and changing demands in Japan, as well as other key markets.
For autumn/winter 2019/20, Alfred Brown has introduced a range of new double milled Saxony / flannel fabrics.
The new collection includes a 290/300gms pure new wool suiting flannel in a wide choice of classic greys and navies mixed with warm country tones on checks and stripes. A similar story is available in a traditional jacket weight at 360gms.
“We are moving towards more fashionable suiting tones away from standard charcoal and dark navies to richer shades of navy blue and fresher lighter grey melange,” Nigel Brown adds. “Our new ranges of double milled Saxony fabrics are increasingly of interest in Japan. Here we have a great range of suiting shades with subtle twists and autumn tones.”
Alfred Brown’s high-quality Made in England cloths are supplied to both mainstream suit retailers and high-end brands in Japan. It began working with the Osaka-based Tresse Corporation as its Japanese sales agent in 2006.
“We continue to work with Koichi Sakai and Tomo Sakai at Tresse Corporation, exploring all opportunities within this market,” says Nigel Brown. “This partnership has yielded real success over the last 12 years.”
He reveals that Alfred Brown supplies around 100,000 metres of fabric each year to Japan, equating to around 12% of its total annual production.
“Japan is still our biggest export market,” he says, adding that Alfred Brown is benefiting from the enduring appeal of English fabric in the country.
“After 12 years of selling in Japan I still find the market and culture absolutely fascinating, with no end of opportunities for our mill.
“We believe the history and heritage of woven in England fabric still carries enormous kudos in this market. We search out styles and weave structure that we feel will suit the Japanese taste and combine these with the unique and understated British style that makes Made in England suitings so sought after.”
Alfred Brown’s profile in Japan has also been boosted through the use of its labels by a number of menswear brands.
“We continue to succeed with many key Japanese suit brands and most use the Alfred Brown woven label to highlight to the end user the pedigree of the fabric,” Nigel Brown explains.
“We also continue to maintain a good share of the woven selvedge made-to-measure suiting market, which again greatly values authentic British fabric.”
As well as Japan, Alfred Brown exports to Europe, the Middle East and China, and joint managing director Ian Brown says that the company has increased the proportion of its total sales generated by exports from around 10% to 40% in the last five years.
“China is particularly interested in our fabrics for the corporate wear markets, where our knowledge and skill of colour continuity gives us a real edge,” he says. “Our fabrics here are fine in count, but construction and finish ensure the greatest performance in wear throughout the life of the garment.”
He adds: “In Europe we offer some of our classic heritage fabrics like cavalry twills and wool baratheas, or strong fresco style panamas which can give new looks in current garment styling. This has turned out to be a great way of showcasing British tailoring fabrics through a completely new customer base.”
He adds that while the UK high street faces a number of challenges, it is still a vitally important market for Alfred Brown.
“UK retailers across the board are finding trading very difficult for well-known reasons,” he says. “Men’s and women’s formal tailoring is certainly no exception.”
But he stresses that “Alfred Brown continues to explore all its opportunities within this very important sector. We hope our new ranges will be well-received and we continue to offer our customers the very best service we can.”
He adds: “Each customer has its own unique requirements and we try to ensure we have the fabrics that fit with this identity.”
Alfred Brown continues to produce the fabric for the official suits worn by a number of top UK sports teams. A recent example was the suit made by Marks & Spencer for the England football squad at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, held in Russia, from 14 June to 15 July.
This proved particularly successful for Alfred Brown, with the England team reaching the semi-finals, and manager Gareth Southgate wearing the official waistcoat during the matches and even becoming recognised as a fashion influencer.
Back home, M&S sold replicas of the suit – including the waistcoat – in selected stores across the UK throughout the tournament and interest has continued since. Joint managing director Ian Brown reveals that, as a result, Alfred Brown has sold 85,000 metres of the fabric so far.
“The cloth is a very fine pure new wool 2x1 twill weave in a striking blue shade that is a topical move away from dark navy,” he says.
“The buzz around Gareth Southgate’s waistcoat helped produce plenty of publicity for us, including coverage on local BBC TV news as the team outperformed all expectations,” he adds.
“The semi-finals were played in the same week as IdeaBiella in July, so we had a special World Cup display during the show which created lots of interest.”
Nigel Brown notes that the fabric quality used for the M&S suit is popular in Japan. “It is fine and lightweight with a high lustre ‘clothier’ type finish.”
In another exciting development during the summer, Alfred Brown welcomed HRH The Princess Royal, president of the UK Fashion & Textile Association (UKFT), who visited the mill on 15 June.
“This was a real boost to the company and all our members of staff,” says Nigel Brown. “HRH is certainly most knowledgeable on all aspects of the great work that goes on in this country’s textile and clothing industry. It was a real pleasure showing her around the mill and she especially enjoyed meeting and talking to our staff.”
With a capacity of one million metres per year, Alfred Brown is one of the few remaining British mills capable of producing bulk orders for high street retailers as well as supplying smaller, niche brands, designer labels and tailors.
In order to meet the growing demand for its cloth, Alfred Brown expanded its weaving capacity last year, adding six new jacquard woven edge looms to take the total number of looms at the mill to 30.
“This has stood us in great stead in the woven edge made-to-measure area, with ongoing capacity and weaving efficiencies in this sector of the market,” says Nigel Brown.
Sustainability is also a key focus for Alfred Brown. Its mill is now being run on energy that is 100% from renewable sources.
“Running 30 looms uses a lot of power,” Nigel Brown explains. “We wanted to ensure we sourced all our power from 100% renewable sources as this is the best way that we can minimise our impact on the environment. We continue to source solely from suppliers who meet the criteria.”
