British-born designer Clare Waight Keller is the woman responsible for transforming heritage label Pringle of Scotland into a contemporary fashion brand. With her impressive CV and innovatory approach to knitwear she has reinvented the brand since she was appointed its creative director in 2005. Having been taught by her mother, she began knitting at the age of five. She then went on to study at Ravensbourne College of Art, where she completed her graduation in fashion, and completed her MA in Fashion Knitwear at The Royal College of Art.
Having secured her job working on womenswear at Calvin Klein, she targeted New York as her next destination. This was followed by a role at Ralph Lauren, which saw her working as senior designer of Purple Label Menswear and gave her a fantastic knowledge about tailoring – something that she still draws upon today. In 2000, she was hired by Tom Ford at Gucci to work alongside Christopher Bailey and Francisco Costa as a senior designer. And, this was further followed by her role as creative director of Pringle of Scotland in 2005. Clare was told to completely reinvent the brand, which she did, presenting her first collection in February 2006.
She was honored as the Scottish Cashmere Designer of the Year at the Scottish Fashion Awards in 2007. She also launched Pringle 1815, a diffusion line named which was named after the year company was founded.
