British-Made Women's Cardigans in London — Voted by the Community

The cardigan as a garment is connected to British knitwear history. Its name is generally attributed to a British Army officer in the nineteenth century and entered menswear before becoming widely worn by women as knitwear production expanded. Knitting as a craft and industry developed in the UK well before mechanised manufacture, with regional knitmaking and textile production established in parts of England and Scotland. Advances in knitting machinery during the Industrial Revolution enabled wider domestic production of knitted garments, including items with open fronts and button closures, which evolved into the cardigan form. Traditional knitwear techniques and fabric sources in British textile regions supported the manufacture of cardigans alongside other knitted garments. Contemporary British-made cardigans draw on this context of UK knit production, combining natural fibres and established construction methods suited to layerable knit tops.