Aran sweaters are making headlines these days. One from the 1940s, in the Museum of Country Life in Co Mayo, goes on display at Moma in New York next month named as a prime example of timeless 20th century international design.
It coincides, entirely fortuitously, with the launch of Inis Meáin’s new Aran Fisherman’s Sweater this week in New York at Barney’s luxury department store.
The sweater – centrepiece of a new collection which usually features variations on its celebrated pub and storm jackets – is a collaboration between the island knitwear company and Irish label Sphere One by Lucy Downes. The classic knit, with its familiar cables, has been reimagined for a modern fisherman to be the ultimate in protection and comfort. The result is an original, utilitarian, technically detailed and handsome Aran whose design draws from the long-standing tradition of women knitters on the islands, the smallest of which is Inis Meáin.
The high-back neck lined with cashmere provides comfort, finer gauge underarm gussets reduce friction, and a shoulder yoke in waterproof oiled lanolin wool protects the neck area from getting wet while there is extra padded protection for the forearms.
A short film shot on Inis Meáin launched the collaboration which made its debut in Barneys earlier this week. The fisherman is played by Marty Rea, recently seen in Gatsby at the Gate with music by Keith Byrne and filmed by Matthew Thompson/Detail Design Studio. This handsome manly sweater is bound to attract stylish urbanites as well as the hardy folk braving the icy waters of the Atlantic.
