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.



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