Discover more about Alan Paine, a UK knitwear brand with heritage, tradition, quintessential English styling and quality written into its DNA.

The lucky hand of fate

William Paine was born in September 1907, the second son of William and Jesse Paine, at a time when his father was struggling to establish his tailoring business at 72 High Street, Godalming. William discovered some hand knitting machines in the old warehouse behind the family home and taught himself to knit. Within a few years his hobby became a business; arguably developing the first cable knit sweaters. He found a useful outlet at the local Charterhouse school.

Club Colour Trim

Bespoke club-coloured trim sweaters were the brand’s speciality and before long the club colours were worn by every cricket, rowing, tennis and golf club in England. Records suggest that the fashion-conscious HRH Edward the Prince of Wales ordered a number of personalised sweaters knitted in regimental colours.

Archive records of the club colour trims

Alan Paine workforce circa 1940s

By land, sea and air; Paine’s goods go everywhere

In 1950, William’s son, Alan Paine, took over the business. The company continued to flourish and the brand developed a reputation for quality classic English sweaters in woollen fibres including Lambswool, Cashmere, Camelhair and Shetland. Rapid expansion into global markets took place, in particular the US, Spain, Italy and Scandinavia. It was during this period that the brand changed from W.F. Paine of Godalming to Alan Paine on the basis that Americans found Godalming difficult to pronounce.

Alan Paine in the 1950s

The times they are a changing

The 1980’s and 1990’s were difficult times for knitwear producers, including Alan Paine. The Paine family sold the business in the early 1990’s and, following several different owners, James Hinton, who joined Alan Paine in 1986, became the proud owner of the company.

James Hinton, owner of Alan Paine

A century and not out

In 2007, the brand celebrated its centenary. On the company’s continued success, James recalls the mantra instilled in him during his early years with the company: “Alan Paine himself taught me never lower your quality, let the competition fight that one out; just stand tall.”

Traditional values, quintessentially English style

The brand has developed far beyond their core base of classic knitwear to incorporate a successful range of outerwear and wovens into the collection, together with a comprehensive country wear collection in a variety of stunning fabrics, all offering the characteristic quality associated with Alan Paine.

The company is extremely proud of its English heritage and still holds the same traditional values that were the backbone of the company under the leadership of both William and Alan Paine during the early years.

Autumn Winter 21

The brand’s new knitwear collection comprises a comprehensive selection of relaxed, informal styles in exciting new yarn mixes coupled with a vast choice of enduring classic pieces in a host of colours, not to mention a highly regarded stock service programme. Their Country Collection is bursting with new colours across all ranges, new tweeds and styles and the expansion of their next generation range of performance waterproofs.

Naturally, current restrictions, and the reduction in trade shows, may make it difficult for customers to view the seasonal ranges which is why the brand has created a series of films to showcase some of the new season styles and yarns. They are bringing the catwalk to a laptop near you.

Follow Alan Paine on Facebook – @alanpaine1907

Follow Alan Paine on Instagram – @alanpaine1907, @alanpaine_england

Visit the Alan Paine website

Alan Paine is a UKFT member. Interested in becoming a UKFT member? Find out more about membership here.