British luxury’s winners championed factory craft

John Smedley, a knitwear maker that has operated from the same Derbyshire mill since 1784, was named British Luxury Brand of the Year on November 9 after investing 4 million British pounds ($5.4 million) in its manufacturing and opening its production lines to other labels. Walpole, the official sector body for UK luxury, said in its 2024 Luxury in the Making report that British luxury generated about 81 billion British pounds ($109 billion) in turnover in 2022, including 56 billion British pounds ($75 billion) in exports, and supported more than 450,000 jobs. Helen Brocklebank, Walpole’s chief executive, wrote in a commentary on the awards that “this year’s winners make an even stronger case for Britain’s ability to compete.” Lea Mills now lends its knitting expertise to Lanvin, Daks and emerging designers such as Maximilian Raynor and Cecile Tulkens, which manufacture there alongside John Smedley’s own lines. “For a young designer, access to that expertise can make the difference between an idea and a business,” Brocklebank wrote. Mulberry took the Leadership in British Luxury award after reporting an 18% rise in group sales for the six months to September 26. Its Back to the Mulberry Spirit strategy puts British craft at the center of the business, and Christopher Kane, its ready-to-wear creative director, showed his first collection for the brand at London Fashion Week in September. Mulberry runs two factories in Somerset and a leathercraft apprenticeship. Private White V.C., which makes its clothing at its own factory in Salford, Greater Manchester, won Made in the UK. Gordon Ramsay received the Visionary award for his investment in restaurants at 22 Bishopsgate, and Cadogan, the Chelsea estate that has pledged to reach net zero by 2030, won Sustainable Luxury Brand of the Year. Neither Walpole’s winners list nor Brocklebank’s commentary mentioned Asia. The clearest lesson for brands courting Chinese clients came from Boodles, which won Best Luxury Experience for The London Journey. The program brought 15 couples from the US and Canada to London for a private dinner at the Tower of London, a Royal Ballet rehearsal and a tour of the jeweler’s diamond-cutting facility. That format could travel. Emotional connection is now the top driver of luxury brand desirability for clients in both the US and China, according to a June survey by McKinsey. In China, the report found, desirability depends on high-touch service that makes clients feel known. Brands need that pull in mainland China, where Bain estimates the personal luxury market shrank 3% to 5% in 2025. Getting Chinese visitors to London is a harder problem. Walpole’s 2022 tourism report, based on Bain research into pre-pandemic travel, found high-end visitors to the UK spent 14 times as much per day as other tourists, and that every 1 British pound spent by guests in high-end accommodation generated 8 British pounds of value in other industries. Brocklebank wrote that “a more competitive business environment” would help British brands capture demand that already exists around the world. Walpole has long campaigned to restore tax-free shopping, which Britain scrapped for international visitors in 2021. In 2019, Chinese tourists made up 8% of non-EU visitors to the UK but accounted for 32% of tax-free shopping, according to the Association of International Retail, which campaigns for the scheme’s return. This year’s winners have put their money into British factories. The next test is whether they can make that investment matter to customers in Shanghai as much as it does in Somerset.

British luxury’s winners championed factory craft

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British luxury’s winners championed factory craft

TUMI’s new growth playbook: From travel expertise to lifestyle performance