There’s a free-spirited mood pulsing through Pringle of Scotland’s Resort collection. Design director Fran Stringer has once again mined the label’s sporty heritage, this time unearthing freshness from everything from rowing jackets to tennis dresses to 1920s tartan golfing suits. She also celebrates the unsung swagger of the Casuals—the stylish (and oft maligned) British football fans of the 1980s and 1990s who pioneered a blend of European sportswear with preppy knits.
“I had two older brothers who were teenagers in that era,” says the designer, whose mood board featured pastel-hued photographs of the underground men’s style movement. “All their friends used to come round to our house in their pink argyles and turtlenecks with polo shirts underneath. Now people want to stand out, but back then it was all about fitting in.” Stringer translated the Casuals’ tribalism into a Neapolitan palette spanning from stone, camel, and crisp white to baby pink, lemon, and vibrant blue—often all on the same super-fine sweater.
Not that Stringer restricted herself to soccer. The classic cricket jumper was also reworked in a cropped, hand-knit version with a plunging V-neck featuring the brand’s founding year, 1815, boldly emblazoned on the sleeve. Another winning piece was the hand-intarsia’d, Scottish spun cashmere sweater featuring a graphic lion logo pulled from a turn-of-the-century marketing campaign.
“I find that knitwear is so relevant for all seasons,” says Stringer. “It’s so versatile and fresh-looking.” This relevance rung especially true for the cashmere hoodies in citrus tones that will add zing to winter wardrobes, especially when luxuriously layered over long jersey kilt skirts. Slightly out of step with the sporty scene, but fun nonetheless, was the rainbow of artisanal hand tie-dyed knit dresses and tees.
