THE FALL AND RISE OF LYLE AND SCOTT CLothing

THE FALL AND RISE OF LYLE AND SCOTT

By WHU65 May 2008

William Lyle and Walker Scott originally founded the company in Hawick, Scotland in 1874. They took their inspiration from hosiery and underwear manufacturer Pringle who had been in operation since 1815. It was 1926, over fifty years later before Lyle and Scott first ventured into the knitwear market. Collaboration with French designer Christian Dior followed during the 1950’s but it’s the period during the swinging sixties, which really saw the brand take off following the launch of their golfing range.

In 1967 the famous golden eagle motif first appeared and was registered as a trademark. Lyle and Scott had decided to launch a golf range inspired by American golfer Doug Sanders and a precession of well-known golf pros including Greg Norman, Tony Jacklin and Gary Player later wore the brand. Their knitwear also became synonymous with television celebrities and amateur golfers alike such as Ronnie Corbett, Bing Crosby and Jimmy Tarbuck. Anyone of a certain age will remember little Ronnie appearing on the BBC’s comedy show The Two Ronnies each Saturday sporting a different Lyle and Scott sweater during his rambling monologue segment.

It was during the late seventies though when football lads first started to appear on the terraces in the plain v-neck sweaters with eagle motif to chest. Cockneys seemed to have a liking for knitwear brands like Pringle, Ballantyne and Coxmoor but in the north west of England Lyle and Scott, Bramaer and Munsingwear seemed more the order of the day. Originally the motif was an embroidered yellow eagle rather than golden one seen in modern times. The argyle pattern or “diamond” jumpers also proved popular in a bright sea of colours and variations. There were large and small diamond patterns to compliment the large range of plain coloured sweaters and later on a sports/leisure range.

Although it is the sewn on badge style yellow eagle motif that is best remembered by football lads from the late 70’s/early 80’s period, the emblem has actually changed many times over the years. Circa 1983, a new embroidered logo started to appear with the name written underneath. The colour of the eagle was still yellow but that again was later to change with a contrast colour to that of the sweater appearing. Motifs later appeared on the left arm rather than the chest and also with no badge at all. Some examples of these can be seen in the photos included here.

Fast-forward to the year 2000… the ever-changing designer clad match goer had long consigned the L+S brand to the dustbin. Their popularity was short lived amongst the terrace tearaways like so many of the brands of that era and Lyle and Scott began to lose favour along with other period sportswear attire such as Fila, Sergio Tacchini, Ellesse, Pringle and Munsingwear. Other labels replaced, more came and went over the years until a resurgence of interest of all things retro appeared amongst the ranks. The British menswear revival around the millennium seemed to trigger an interest in long forgotten labels like Lyle and Scott and Pringle once again.

In 2000, Lyle and Scott reissued a vintage range with the original sewn on yellow eagle badge. Connoisseur’s eager to fuel the retro revival quickly snapped these up. No doubt encouraged by sales more classic designs followed and the brand no longer had to survive on golfers alone wearing its apparel. In 2002 the new golden eagle badge appeared for the first time. Essentially a similar logo, the more eagle eyed amongst you will have spotted the change in colour from the original yellow. The Vintage range was expanded and a new flagship store opened on King Street in London’s trendy Covent Garden.

Unfortunately for the football fraternity this expansion had a down side to it. TV presenters such as Dermot O’Leary were beginning to latch on to the brand as well as indie bands such as Kasabian and Arctic Monkeys. This in turn led to their fans wanting to wear the same label. Suddenly Lyle and Scott was everywhere you looked. We’d gone from a few golf shops and selected retailers to several pages of it on Ebay and racks in high street shops all around the country. The lads inevitably lost interest once again as the label was taken over by funboys, parrot heads and indie pop kids.

Sadly, the upsurge in interest has also seen some appalling variations from the company such as the limited edition silver then horrendous green eagle sweaters. They have also stopped producing the better looser fitting green label golf range with yellow eagle badges now preferring to use them exclusively on the vintage tight fit designs. The golf range is now only available with contrast embroidered eagle motifs. I doubt Lyle and Scott will lose too much sleep though over many of the football lads deserting the brand especially as business has never been so good!

COPYRIGHT WHU65 2008-05-26 NOT TO BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT PERMISSION