About Pearl

Pearl Reddington is a multi award-winning contemporary knitwear designer based in Ireland. Born and bred in Dublin, Pearl comes from a family of artists, makers, and entrepreneurs and has been crafting beautiful objects since a young age. As a rising star in the Irish fashion landscape, Pearl is known for her instantly recognisable graphic knitwear, and a penchant for neon yellow.

“As a young designer, I strive to push the boundaries of Irish knitwear and to build on Ireland’s rich textile heritage. My focus is on creating a unique handcrafted contemporary style combining current innovation with traditional techniques and materials. A key design inspiration for me is the incursion of the industrial into the natural environment.”

Pearl started her brand in Ireland to fill a niche in contemporary knitwear. Her design philosophy puts the wearer at the centre of each design, with no compromise to her strong aesthetic. Pearl is passionate about staying connected with nature, so outdoor trips for inspiration, bringing back tiny natural artifacts, and swimming in the nearby sea are usual out-of-office activities. Creating a beautiful home is important to Pearl for a healthy work-life balance, and her cabin is regularly filled with personal homeware projects and the delicious smells of her home-cooked meals.

A special mention is reserved for Pearl’s tiny rescue cat, Spük, and her neurotic rescue dog, Pip, who are always there to make sure Pearl and her team get enough time outdoors each day with a mandatory walk to the coast.

About Production

PEARL REDDINGTON is a young brand producing in Ireland. Pearl and the team work from Raheny, Co. Dublin, designing, making and finishing garments and accessories there, as well as outsourcing to skilled knitters, who Pearl has a close relationship with and visits regularly.

“We are passionate about developing our brand in Ireland and supporting the abundantly talented and skillful local industry.”

As Pearl grows her brand she is working closely with local trusted knitters to help with production. She is involved in every stage of the process as each and every garment is hand finished by her in-house team of creatives, interns and family members and friends. Her marbled pompoms and clay buttons are individually hand made to complement each garment.

Each of our bespoke garments is hand-made to order. The creation of each garment consists of several technical stages; from designing and sketching, to pattern drafting and calculating, to knitting and hand linking seams, to washing and steaming, to hand sewing labels and stitching in loose threads. Each hat needs a hand-made pompom and every cardigan needs its buttons handmade and sewn on.

Knitting is an ancient process of turning a single thread into a shaped piece of cloth which results in almost no cut off waste. It has developed technologically and knitting machines now help to speed up the process. The knitting machines we use are manually driven, which means our knitters control the process and develop some great bicep muscles while doing so.

We use a process called full-fashioned, which entails the manual transfer of stitches on the knitting machine to create texture within garments and shaping the edges. The results are beautiful, quiet traces of how your garment was thoughtfully and slowly made by human hands. Next time you hold your cosy hat in your hands or you’re about to throw on your favourite Pearl jumper, take a look at the elegant, raised cross-over stitches near the seams. These are what set apart fashioned pieces, from ‘cut-and-sew’ knitwear, where a garment is cut out of a continuous roll of fabric and excess fabric is wasted – you can spot this by turning your garment inside out. If a garment has overlocked seams, or is sewn together with a sewing machine, rather than darned together at the shaped edges, it usually means this piece was made in a mass produced process. We love our hand-made construction, and we hope you will too!

About Sustainability

We strive to create long wearing garments which will last you season after season, and with care from you, for many years to come. We use only natural fabrics, which will degrade back into the environment if responsibly disposed. Every garment is hand-made and hand-finished, promising quality and love infused with every thread.

Knitting is a fascinating process of turning a single length of yarn into a garment, which means we have a gorgeous zero-waste process, finding use for every cut off thread.

The majority of wool we use is produced locally in Ireland, and a select few in the UK, and thus does not need to travel across the globe accruing frequent flyer miles, which helps avoid a fat carbon footprint. Our fabric contents are listed with each garment so you can decide what is important to you as the buyer and wearer.

Materials

DONEGAL MERINO YARN

100% Merino wool traditionally spun in Kilcar, Donegal. The yarns they spin are as wild as Donegal itself, the distinctive flecks capture the magical colors of Ireland’s land and sea and sky. Donegal Yarns operates a complete vertical production process from raw wool, through dying, blending, carding and spinning to a finished multi-colour flecked yarn. A team of craftsmen and technicians, using skills handed down through generations, work to produce these unique yarns. The mill is a mixture of traditional and state of the art machinery, ensuring that consistent, luxury yarns are produced with no compromise to quality and tradition.

Donegal Yarns take immense pride in the quality and heritage of their product. All their yarns are licensed and issued with ‘Certificates of Origin’ guaranteeing that the product you purchase contains the genuine, unique, natural and original “Donegal” manufactured by Donegal Yarns.

 

NEON SHETLAND MERINO FLEECE

The neon we use, is created from soft shetland merino fleece, dyed and spun in West Yorkshire. It has been a long process finding a robust enough merino wool that could withstand the temperatures needed to dye such a vibrant colour. It’s rare to find a neon wool that is 100% natural material – usually neon wool is blended with acrylic, as synthetics can be dyed with ease.

PRESS

Snáithe TG4 Documentary
Vogue.com
The New York Times
i-D.vice.com
Image Magazine
Irish Times
Irish Country Magazine
Sunday Business Post
Irish Examiner
Totally Dublin
Irish Arts Review
Grazia Magazine
Stellar Magazine
Sunday Independent
Irish Farmers Journal
Northside News
Irish Independent

Awards and Shows

Irish Fashion Innovation Awards – One To Watch 2018
RDS Craft Award Bursary 2018
Future Makers Studio Award 2018
Future Makers Emerging Maker Design Award 2017
Design Ireland at Showcase 2019

Brown Thomas Create 2018

Fabiani Design Week 2018

RDS Gifted 2018

Dublin Christmas Flea Market

If you have any questions or musings about your PEARL REDDINGTON purchase, please contact us and we can work with you to find your answers.

Product Care

The great thing about merino wool knitwear is that it requires far less washing than synthetic fibres. Merino wool is breathable and self cleaning. Airing your knitwear on a crisp, breezy day is enough for the wool to neutralise and feel fresh again. Wool is naturally dirt repellent. Even liquid dirt finds it hard to penetrate the fibre, but rather stays on the surface, where once dry, it can be brushed off easily. Wool is also able to bind and neutralise sweat and is naturally resistant to odours, making it ideal for multiple wears. So, if your knitwear isn’t physically dirty, there is no rush to wash it! If there is a small mark, a spot clean will do the job. The less you wash it, the longer your wool will last.

If you do need to wash your knits, Pearl recommends hand washing with care:

  • Use warm water and mix it with a gentle wool detergent.
  • Submerge the garment and soak it for 10-15 minutes.
  • Carefully rinse the garment in warm water.
  • Press or roll in a clean, dry towel to remove as much water as possible. Do not wring it.
  • Never tumble dry pure wool.
  • Place it flat on a dry towel, keep it away from sunlight and let it air-dry. Avoid any creases or wrinkles by straightening out while damp. Wool will dry in the shape it is placed in.
  • If your washing machine has a good delicate programme, you can machine wash in cold water before drying as detailed above.

** Please note: do NOT wash any pompoms in the washing machine, unless you want to see your fluffy head topper turn into a squidgy felt pebble forever. **