Harris Tweed Hebrides reveals Ryder Cup collection

The award-winning company, based at Shawbost in the Isle of Lewis, has partnered with esteemed Edinburgh-based retailer Walker Slater to produce an exquisite limited edition range of products that will be sold online at Rydercup.com and at selected outlets including Walker Slater on Victoria Street in Edinburgh.

Harris Tweed Hebrides’ creative director Mark Hogarth said: “Our team was set the challenge of creating a tweed that complements the Ryder Cup livery and official tartan but that also represents the unique blues of the Hebrides.

“Ken Kennedy, our head of pattern design, has created a stunning herringbone design with a colour spectrum of cobalt to aquamarine.”

Harris Tweed has a long golfing pedigree and was worn by many of the great players of an earlier era. In recent years, it has seen a major revival on the basis of its quality, heritage and fashion status.

Walker Slater Design Director, Dan Fearn, said: “Walker Slater is delighted to be a part of highlighting the timeless legacy, and stunning future of Harris Tweed for such an iconic global event. To showcase our work with those who share our passion and vision is a huge privilege.”

The tweed will also be cut into the uniform for the Junior Ryder Cup team who will play a curtain-raiser to the main event which starts on 23 September at Gleneagles.

Richard Hills, Europe’s Ryder Cup Director, added: “We are delighted to see this impressive collection come to fruition. The Ryder Cup Harris Tweed is an exquisite design and yet another example of the highly skilled craftsmanship to come out of Scotland.

“Favoured by great players in the past, we are pleased that this year, the Ryder Cup Harris Tweed will be worn by the players of the future – the Junior Ryder Cup team - and will be available to everyone who wants to get into the spirit of the 2014 Ryder Cup.”

Harris Tweed Hebrides has limited production of the licensed specially designed tweed and it hopes the products will become true collectors’ items. Last month in New York, the company launched a campaign that described Harris Tweed as a “Sustainable Fabric to the World”.

Former UK trade minister, Brian Wilson, who chairs Harris Tweed Hebrides, added: “Golf, Gleneagles and Harris Tweed form a great partnership which reflects Scotland at its very best. It is an honour, shared by the weavers and mill workers in Lewis, to have been chosen as a standard-bearer of excellence in association with the 2014 Ryder Cup.”

Cabinet Secretary for Commonwealth Games and Sport, Shona Robison said:

“From our first Year of Homecoming in 2009 to our current Year of Homecoming Scotland 2014, Scottish businesses have come together to promote our most valuable and celebrated assets. The Ryder Cup Harris Tweed collection is an exciting example of an iconic Scottish brand working with a global event to showcase the best of Scotland on the world stage.

“Harris Tweed is true success story, combining heritage with contemporary design to capture the best of Scottish style. As Scotland welcomes the world this year, this partnership demonstrates a vision of traditional and modern Scotland in harmony. Innovative ideas, like this collection, are helping to build a legacy by using the international exposure from the Ryder Cup to highlight opportunities for Scottish business as we move towards 2016 – Scotland’s Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design.”

The 2014 Ryder Cup takes place at The Gleneagles Hotel, Auchterarder, Perthshire, Scotland from September 26-28, 2014.

About Ryder Cup

The illustrious history of the Ryder Cup dates back to the 1920s and, from the very beginning, Scots have had a telling influence on the ultimate team golf tournament.

There are the talented team captains who are chosen to lead their men to victory, and the brave players who picked up crucial points in the heat of battle. Then there are the course architects whose classic layouts - on both sides of the pond - have been used as Ryder Cup venues.

The first official Ryder Cup took place in 1927, with a couple of unofficial meetings preceding that inaugural tournament. In 2014, the 40th Ryder Cup will be contested at Gleneagles and, once again, Scotland will play a major part in the Ryder Cup story.