ITS devotees include pop veteran Madonna, former Dr Who Matt Smith and actress Gwyneth Paltrow.
Now an archive containing a wealth of material covering more than 100 years of the history of the unique Harris Tweed industry has been opened up for people to view online.
The project led by the Western Isles Council’s archive service, Tasglann nan Eilean, has brought together and logged the entire archive of the Harris Tweed Authority.
The HTA archive contains a collection from photographs to limericks, and advertising to stamping books.
Now the full collection has been opened up to the public for the first time through a new online catalogue.
Meticulous cataloguing and preservation work was carried out by project archivist Victoria Woodcock, with contributions from a number of volunteers.
The collection contains intriguing historical records such as notebooks listing weavers in the 1930s and 1950s, the founding document of the Harris Tweed Association from 1909 – the predecessor of the current HTA – court records from a case defending Harris Tweed’s trademark in the 1960s, and adverts from the 1970s onwards.
Some of the more unusual items include limericks written for a competition in 1982, school and college projects on the Harris Tweed industry, colourful imitation labels from the 1950s and 60s, and a piece of the Harris Tweed made for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
As part of the project a number of engagement events were held to raise awareness of the archive, involving people from across the community.
Lorna MacAulay, HTA chief executive, said: “The HTA is delighted to have had this collection of important documents and archive material professionally catalogued, archived and now in the care of Tasglann nan Eilean.
“It has been a pleasure to work with the archivists on this projects and we have no doubt there will be interest in viewing its contents. Our industry’s history and heritage is key to our success and often the focus of our promotion of the industry.”
Cllr Donald Crichton, chairman of the council’s Sustainable Development Committee, added: “We are delighted that this important archive is now fully documented, enabling people to discover the history of the Harris Tweed industry, and how to access source material.”
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