Donegal Reimagined - Character Cloth with a Future
by Murray Crane
Donegal Tweed has long had a place in tailored clothing—rugged, textured, and quietly distinctive. At Crane Brothers, we continue to use it for its practicality and depth: muted tones, flecked yarns, and a natural structure that lends itself well to contemporary tailoring.
Woven for generations in the north-west of Ireland, Donegal Tweed began as a working cloth—spun and dyed by hand using local materials. Its irregular texture and subtle variation in colour became its signature, giving it both durability and a point of difference. It remains one of the few traditional fabrics that feels equally relevant in both town and country. No two bolts are identical, and that variation gives each garment a sense of purpose and place.
In his debut for Dior Men, Designer Jonathan Anderson included a sharply cut Donegal jacket—layered over fine knitwear and paired with oversized shorts. The jacket silhouette drew from Dior’s archive, but the cloth brought something more grounded. Its inclusion felt deliberate: a quiet acknowledgement of the designers roots and tradition within a modern collection.
We choose Donegal not out of nostalgia, but for what it offers: structure, texture, and longevity. It wears in, not out.
View more Dispatch posts
Back to DispatchLottie Consalvo – The Invisible World
We’ve long admired Lottie Consalvo’s work and the way it occupies that delicate space between what’s seen and what’s felt. Her paintings and performances seem to exist on the edge...
Permanent Style Magazine
The second issue of Permanent Style magazine is arriving soon, and it represents a notable evolution from the debut. The most anticipated development is the expansion of exclusive content: five...
Grace & Flora
We’re pleased to now have our store flowers created by Grace & Flora, led by florist Hannah Low. Her arrangements have featured in our spaces before, most memorably for special...