Knitwear brand Brora and its Fair Isle jumpers are loved by the Princess of Wales, Helena Bonham Carter and Kristin Scott Thomas

“Brora is an understated brand, using the very finest fabrics and yarns, creating timeless pieces full of thoughtful details,” says founder and CEO Victoria Stapleton.

“The Harrogate shop really suits who we are as a brand, and the Yorkshire ladies love to come in and visit the team, chat and catch up, talk through the collection and pick out the styles that suit their lifestyle, body shape and colouring.

“I come every November and spend a day in-store helping people pick their seasonal gem. No one walks out in something that doesn’t really suit them well.”

Customers keep coming back for the cool knitwear, boho dresses, cotton blouses, heritage check tailoring and oodles of gorgeously soft and cosy accessories – wrist warmers and snoods that instantly transform an everyday outfit into a swoon-worthy seasonal look.

Brora’s collaborations turn heads too, notably with florists Willow Crossley and acting legends Kristin Scott Thomas and Helena Bonham Carter. This season there is a collection with Nick, Lily and Edie Ashley, advocates of using wool in design and making locally, with style references to their grandmother Laura Ashley.

“We also joined forces with British artist and illustrator Hugo Guinness, taking his quirky animal drawings and converting them into bold statement knits. Our latest collaboration is with fairisle fanatic Alexandra Tolstoy, who has created four unique folk fairytale-inspired designs, all knitted at our cashmere mill in Scotland.”

Victoria founded the brand almost 30 years ago, aged 25, when her family became involved in Hunters of Brora tweed mill in Scotland. She took on the task of creating a retail arm.

“I was brought up in Cumbria, fairly near the Scottish Borders and the incredible mills there, and really wanted to add colour, modernity and fun to traditional knitwear,” she says.

“We have always been passionate about using natural yarns and fabrics in our designs, be that silk, linen, wool, cashmere, organic cotton, alpaca. From the start, I sourced tweeds and woollens from mills around the British Isles, Yorkshire being home to some of the greats.

“My father was a serial entrepreneur. From a young age, we all worked for the business in some capacity, so it felt very normal when I started Brora. My mother, who lives in Dumfriesshire, has impeccable taste, was a domestic goddess and taught me how to create a cosy home, I hope.”

Boarding school, she says, taught her to be self-sufficient. She was constantly in the sewing room, using gingham to make pedal pushers for her friends. She then studied History of Art at university, where her thesis researched fashion of the 1970s, still her favourite era.

“I’ve been making things for as long as I can remember and still regularly run things up on my sewing machine,” says Victoria. She now lives in Hertfordshire with her husband, Johnny Pilkington, and has two step-daughters and three daughters, Hermione, Allegra, Jesse, Nancy and Lola.

“We employ around 100 people at Brora and my family are very involved with the brand side of things. My husband is Brora’s campaign photographer and has been for 25 years,” she says. “My daughters are all involved in styling, art direction, photography and design. They have been brought up with the brand, which is naturally an extension of my personal style, so they are the best brand ambassadors.”

Victoria’s own style indeed epitomises Brora. “I love a dress, so to be able to keep wearing them, during the colder months I love throwing a tank over the top. My personal favourite is our Donegal cashmere tank – it’s a boxy, slightly away from the body, shape.

“We adore cord trousers at Brora – ours is sourced in one of the oldest textile mills in Italy and the quality is exceptional. I wear one of our embroidered white organic cotton shirts with statement collar and cuffs under a fairisle yoke jumper. It’s such a great way to wear a little bit of pattern and we have some super-soft lambswool fairisle yoke jumpers that are made in the north of Scotland on a whole garment machine, meaning there’s absolutely zero waste.”

As well as UK and Italian factories, Brora works with ones in Portugal and India for specific designs such as hand embroidery and lace work. There are 10 retail outlets, nine in the UK and one on New York’s Madison Avenue.

Every year Brora supports the Campaign for Wool, an initiative to promote the beauty and natural qualities of wool. “It’s hard to say fashion is sustainable but being responsible is critical. We also do an annual audit of our carbon footprint and offset our emissions by investing in projects like restoring grasslands in Mongolia and reforestation in Scotland.

“Our customers are truly 0-90, as we make the most divine baby clothes, woollies for children and fashion for anyone who loves our aesthetic. Mothers and daughters are often seen shopping together at Brora,” Victoria says.

“Colour seems to be really mainstream now, which is a joy. Those who would only wear neutrals are exploring colour, and my opinion is that everyone looks better in a colour. The pandemic has also shone a long-awaited light on sustainability and responsibility within the fashion arena. This has always been key at Brora but it seems to have taken an age for consumers to realise slow fashion is best. Buy fewer pieces of better quality.”

Brora is at Prospect Crescent in Harrogate and broraonline.com.