Published: Wednesday, 21st November, 2007 12:30
It's cash-mere in the attic
By Campbell Hutcheson
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AN ATTIC clear-out in Germany has uncovered a wealth of Borders fashion history.
Edinburgh restaurateur Karen Pershcke has found untouched designer knitwear by Pringle of Scotland and Bernat Klein lying in storage boxes.
They date from the early 70s around the time her Scottish aunt, Eleanor Lange, ran a boutique in Saarbrücken, which specialised in knitwear from this country.
Mrs Perschke said: “My aunt asked me to go over and help clear out the attic.
“My uncle was a bit of hoarder and he held on to everything, even bits of carpet.
“When I went there in June it was 31 degrees and I had the hoover in front of me as I walked into the attic, which was covered in cobwebs.
“There were about 35 boxes and they were covered by a Persian carpet, which was very moth-eaten.
“I thought the jumpers would be in the same state.” After removing the carpet, Karen was amazed to find that the knitwear was still in original plastic covers and further protected by layers of moth-proof paper.
She said: “In some garments, you could still smell the oil used in the process.
“It was wonderful.” Mrs Perschke now plans to raise thousands of pounds by selling rare cashmere and wool jumpers to keen fashion collectors.
She said: “It’s bringing back some of Scotland’s knitwear history because it’s what we are famous for.” She has also been in touch with the School of Textiles and Design at Heriot-Watt University to ask for expert assistance in cataloguing the knitwear brands.
Mr Klein, who lives in Selkirk, told the Border Telegraph that the attic treasure was likely to date from the early 80s.
He said: “I’m surprised that somebody has sat on the knitwear for all this time.
“We used a lot of mohair at that time, but this was no different from the general run of garments
“I was looking at the designs on Monday and, although they are 20 to 30 years old, the styles haven’t dated too badly.
“It seems the designs are still in vogue and that is really very pleasing.”
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