Design Notes

Getting it just right

the things we think about

A jumper can look quite simple. Getting it right takes time.

When we started Navygrey, we wanted to make the sort of jumper you reach for without thinking: good wool, a shape that feels right, and enough character that you’d recognise it as yours.

The Relaxed was one of our first pieces.

We still make it, because it still does what we hoped it would.

That is usually where a new design begins. We notice something missing from our own wardrobes, or find ourselves wishing a familiar piece worked a little differently.

Perhaps it needs to sit better over a shirt. Perhaps the wool should be lighter, or the sleeve needs more room. If we can’t say why a piece should exist, we keep working on it.

START WITH THE MATERIAL

It’s like using the best natural ingredients for a recipe: it just tastes so much better.

The fabric changes everything. A wool with body can give a jumper its shape; a softer, finer yarn calls for a different kind of cut. We choose materials for how they feel against the skin, how they behave when worn, and what they bring to the finished piece. Then we design around them.

It is why The Relaxed and The Weekend feel different, though both belong in the same wardrobe. And it is why a tee deserves just as much thought as a knit. The weight of the cloth, the way it falls, the shape it holds after a day of wearing it: these are the things you live with.

DISCOVER OUR YARNS & FIBRES

A certain functionality and usefulness is key - every piece has got to work for life.

ITS ALL IN THE DETAILS

The fitting room

Some of our longest conversations are about the smallest changes. A neckline brought in slightly. A cuff with a little more depth. A button that feels better in your hand.

We try things on, move around in them, go back to the sample and try again. A piece has to work beyond the fitting room: on an ordinary morning, under a coat, after years of being pulled out of the wardrobe.

Our customers tell us what they come back to, too. We listen.

DISCOVER THE NAVYGREY ORIGINAL

'We listen to our customers and respond. Over time, their feedback has become an important part of the Navygrey design process.'

JENNY, HEAD OF DESIGN

Colour to come back to

The Palette

Navy and grey gave the brand its name because they were already colours I wore all the time. They make room for other things in a wardrobe, and they become more interesting the longer you look at them.

We have since added other colours, but we ask the same question of each one: will you want to wear it next season, and the one after that? The answer matters more to us than whether it is having a moment.

From there, we’ve explored deeper greys, shifted through shades of blue, and gradually introduced fresh hues of red, white and seasonal pops.

Colour that feels right - easy to wear, easy to love.

Made to become yours

The best pieces gather a history. You remember where you took them, whose jumper you borrowed, which cardigan was always by the door when the weather turned.

That is what we hope for when we make something new. That it feels good the first time you put it on, and that you find more reasons to wear it as the years go by.

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