Original subtitles

And thin! And if you look here...

No. No?

So not specific tartan for specific clans?

Not at that period.

And presumably, each group, each clan, has its own...

That's a twill weave, because it's hardwearing.

Same as denim, for jeans. Very, very strong.

It's windproof. Yeah, it's really solid!

It's thin, but it's waterproof.

You had regional styles of it, like dialect or architecture.

It's really harsh? Really harsh, yep.

this is probably first-half 18th-century.

Yeah, so we've got a piece here, it's an old plaid,

Have you got any pieces that are particularly early?

Not Scottish dress at that period.

So this is Highland dress, not Scottish dress?

noted for their customs, their manners and their dress.

These are soldiers overseas,

That's bright.

from wearing Highland dress.

So when their uprising failed in 1746, highland men were outlawed

wore tartan to symbolise their stand against the British Crown.

Bonnie Prince Charlie and his Jacobite supporters

that he gave to a Jacobite heroine called Colonel Anne MacKintosh.

It's part of a plaid that belonged to him

It's a piece that he actually held.

That's particularly associated with Bonnie Prince Charlie.

And here we have a number of Highlanders.

So here's a piece, beautiful piece of the very bright red tartan.

made from exotic insects.

Only the wealthy could afford the imported red cochineal dye,

because they wouldn't have been able to afford it.

The poor would not have been wearing bright red,

their quality and colours revealed much about their wearers.

But while they weren't linked to clans or families,

There's evidence of around 100 different tartans from this time.

They get through nearly two miles of this fabric every week.

If it's our coat, yes, you will!

running about with it on?

Even in the Highlands of Scotland, you wouldn't find a farmer

Won't find that anywhere else? Won't find it anywhere else.

Ancient tartan? Exclusive to our brand.

Yes, there is, it's called the ancient tartan.

I recognise that. Is there a name for that?

And it's only used for this range of jackets.

But not on his kilt? No.

back, sleeves and pockets.

Altogether, there are 12 pieces of lining that fit into the front,

The bottom pockets are lined with soft cotton tartan.

for the first time.

This is where we attach the tartan to the jacket,

This is the front of your coat. Yeah?

Go on, what happens here?

This, I really want to show you.

The oldest surviving piece dates from around 230 AD.

Wearing full highland dress.

1680.

A lovely image of Lord Mungo Murray.

that we start to see depictions of tartan.

But it's perhaps 100 years later after that

I think probably the earliest reference we have is from 1538.

as tartan expert Peter McDonald explains.

But the next history milestone isn't for over 1,000 years,

Highland dress was associated with riot,

We do at least know tartan was here nearly 2,000 years ago.

It makes them sound as if they've been around since time immemorial.

And a Fraser.

This is a McDonald's, for example.

And many of them carry family names.

There are thousands of tartans around these days.

Ruth is in Edinburgh to trace its chequered history.

It might be called ancient, but just how old is tartan?

Right.

Clamped together.

Both separate, come in, down the machine...

Top one? Top one. Bottom one? Bottom one.

and fastens them both together.

the other one comes on top, the clamp comes down,

They come down the channel, one goes underneath,

Got your underneath stud and your top stud.

They get through more than 18,000 of these brass poppers a day.

Now I just need a pocket to work on.

Stand back! Stand back!

That's a job you can try, yeah!

Is that a job I can do?

Now they need press studs to fasten them.

The front square pockets are nearly finished.

along the production line.

Our green wax cotton and tartan lined jacket is making progress

Orangey, definitely, orangey.

You can feel the power of it.

Right, I get it.

Now our studded pocket is sewn onto the front of the jacket.

You can.

I'm really proud of that, can I have another one?

Yes!

Yeah. Taut on the thing.

Lie it flat down on the...

Right.

Find one I like, claim it as me own.

Oh!

A light helps me place the studs perfectly in position.

You wouldn't let me work here, would you? No!

Right, hold them, don't get in the way!

Well, don't hide them!

There. Oh!

Where? Stop.

There's the pockets there.

The king wore this fantastic outfit.

as to what they should wear.

There were instructions that went out to people

into the unofficial uniform of all Scots.

And in doing so, he turned this traditional Highland dress

as well as England.

George IV chose to wear tartan to show that he was King of Scotland

under his kilt to protect his modesty.

Jacket, kilt, hose and it's said that he wore flesh coloured tights

And particularly, they were urged to turn up

the first monarch to come to Scotland for 150 years.

This was where George IV landed in 1822,

I've brought you down to Leith Harbour.

Its eventual revival was ironically thanks to another British king.

The ban lasted nearly 40 years and tartan almost disappeared.

in a rebel group? Absolutely.

So it's a way of sort of stamping out what had become almost a uniform

rebellion, violence? Correct.

your whatever it was, it was sort of largely

I thought I'd do what they did in the early 19th century.

With absolutely no family tradition of any tartan,

Absolutely is. And it all started here.

of the 19th century?

So the whole clan tartan idea is an idea born in the beginning

and clan symbology if you like.

This was perhaps the event that crystallised Scottish identity

"That one, please!"

Where are we going out?

So your Gordon tartan, your MacLeod tartan,

and people would just select what they liked.

The weavers by that time had quite a large pattern book collection

"Help, what am I meant to wear?"

They would go off to a weaver and say,

because there had never been such a thing.

But many of them had no idea what that was,

in their true clan tartan.

To keep you completely dry, it needs to withstand at least

This fabric is so resistant to water, it's burst open

POPPING SOUND

20 psi...

So at 17, what we're up to now.

OK, wow!

We've got to 15 already, look.

It looks like it wants to pop.

ten psi of pressure.

before any liquid has leaked through.

My goodness, and this is up to 3.8.

So, absolutely no water is coming through.

Absolutely, yes.

that I would recognise from a waterproof jacket.

So this feels very much like the kind of material

So we've got one here.

It should do a lot better.

What about a waterproof fabric? How does that do?

at the top there.

All right, Mark, make it rain.

the simplest way to create a barrier against the rain.

which blocks holes in the weave of the fabric,

This bright orange jacket is coated in a thin layer of plastic,

All right, saddle up.

It's been customised!

pointed at a particular angle?

A modified nozzle, is the modified nozzle a garden hose

It's fine for a drizzle, but not for a downpour.

The rain's going to come from the modified nozzle

This is where we make rain.

hi-tech rain room.

Mark's going to demonstrate the problem in his...

But even if your coat is waterproof, it can still let you down.

Yeah.

you're going to be pretty safe in that jacket?

OK, so unless you're standing under Niagara Falls,

From fishermen to farmers,

I'm at the University of Leeds.

To get to grips with the science of staying dry,

And what is breathability?

water resistant and shower proof.

I want to know what the difference is between waterproof,

But not all raincoats are equal.

we all rely on waterproof gear when the heavens open.

from hikers to hipsters,

Hi, Mark, lovely to meet you.

and a surprising amount of science behind them.

There's a wide range of fabrics out there,

the Great British weather.

Of course, wax isn't the only way to keep out

There you go! And it gives you it back.

God, it's the lightest of touches, isn't it?

pieces in place.

to cut a slit in our waxed cloth and stitch all the hand warmer

using this hydro-static head tester,

rated shower proof.

This low psi or pounds per square inch means this fabric is only

And we've got to a pressure of 0.4 psi.

which means your jacket will keep you drier.

Higher pressure equals greater water resistance,

Oh, wow, look at that, yes.

And if you can see, there's water coming through already.

which forces pressurised water against it.

Got in my shoe!

We are going to test this fabric's water resistance

Yeah, it's incredibly light, isn't it?

So it would make a very nice light shower proof running top.

So, what we've got here is a shower proof fabric.

can vary between jackets.

First, he wants to show me how wildly water resistance

Dr Mark Taylor is a world expert in performance clothing.

Hi, Cherry, welcome to Leeds. Thank you.

the technology, I'm much less baffled by breathability.

And this is where you're going to see your jacket made

Yep, this is your production line.

This looks busy.

into a coat.

The parts we've prepped have come through to be stitched together

And now, we're moving onto the main production line.

of making our jacket.

Back in the factory, we're almost 24 hours into the process

from start to finish.

Now that I understand the terminology behind

strangely, you need a jacket covered in holes.

To weather the weather, while staying comfortable,

There you have it.

And it is leaving the jacket. Yeah.

The sweat from my body is evaporating.

I'm hiking, I'm walking my dog, I'm riding my bike.

So I'm jumping around, I'm doing star jumps,

and finished handwarmers.

each adding their own pieces to our jacket shaped puzzle.

From here, this panel passes through the hands of 20 machinists,

That's your hand warmer. Yay!

And here's me moleskin pocket.

This is my stand. That's your stand.

That's my bit there, right? It is, yeah.

I see.

Can I? Yeah.

Oh, look! There we go.

Meaning we now have a front panel with a stand

The flaps are going onto the pockets I sewed.

There's a bit precision engineering gone in there!

That's the bit I made!

I'm helping to make.

Today on this line, they'll sew 162 jackets like the one

Yes.

So each one of these machinists represents another bit of a jacket?

Which is where breathability comes into it.

it becomes water vapour.

So when the sweat evaporates off your skin,

also allow your sweat out?

So how on earth can a garment that protects you from the rain

of their own.

Today, nearly every outdoor clothing manufacturer has a similar fabric

in 1976.

Gore-Tex were the first to market waterproof, breathable fabrics

So this is water in its gaseous form.

In fact, you're an even more gross type of wet.

You don't stay dry.

Yeah, that's the sweat that's coming off you.

I feel very clammy. And hot.

I'm quite damp on the inside.

Or out.

means not a single drop has made it in.

Whatever I put it through, its impervious PVC layer

So, if we imagine this coffee is the human body and the steam

A steam patch.

And the mirror should hopefully show us...

or steam comes through. Clever!

And then we can use this mirror to see if any moisture vapour

Place it on top.

That's breathable. That's it.

So that is my waterproof jacket? Yeah.

that's coming off the hot coffee is our evaporating sweat.

There's my hand warmer.

Mark is going to show me how they work.

less than half the diameter of a human hair.

Most waterproof, breathable fabrics are peppered with holes

then water can't go through one way but it can come out the other.

the water molecules but much smaller than the raindrops,

So if we have holes there a little bit bigger than

Raindrops are very big.

So it's individual molecules and they're very small. Yeah.

Oh, yeah!

and I'll come back and I'll have a few for you.

You're putting me off. Go and get a cup of tea

Really?

Half a minute. 30 seconds.

So how long should it take someone to do what I just did?

Bit slow.

How do you think I'm doing?

Stud away!

I'm going home in a minute, love.

So once, that's it...

Same as I did the pockets? Yes.

Straight onto the yellow chalk marks.

Stud, stud the back and then stud that one.

We'll start with the collar.

And by now, I should have my eye in.

These studs need to be lined up perfectly.

they're hand-finished.

this highly complex 3D jigsaw is complete.

that bar code can trace it back to me? Yeah.

So if there was a problem with the studs that I put on,

It's just in case they come back with a fault.

Why do you bar code them?

You scan it just to get onto the screen.

This is the final inspection.

So we're taking them to the inspection department.

My jacket and the last of the day's batch now need checking and packing.

Every jacket is unique, so it's essential

With all its separate pieces sewn into place,

And that's the jacket complete on studs.

And then Maureen will put the top studs in.

So Lindsay puts the eyelets in.

This is the eyelet machine.

Then you turn it.

Haven't finished yet.

You haven't finished yet. Oh, hang on.

That's amazing. Wow!

Coming through!

..where I'm meeting Cath Edge.

Look out! Mind your backs.

I'm heading to the finishing section...

But there are still some important jobs to do.

into the jacket making process.

Back in South Shields, we're 24 and three quarters hours

All I need now is to do a rain dance.

Hello! Come on!

It does!

Does it work?

it's finally ready.

After cutting, framing, stitching and a bit of ferruling,

And there we have it.

called a ferrule is hammered on to protect the tip.

And finally, an elegant metal cap

You're always meant to roll your umbrella.

That's to say that all the sewing now is finished on the jacket

where to put the studs.

She'll use a yellow chalk pencil so you know exactly

on the jackets.

Yes, this is Michelle, she does all the marking

This lady is drawing all over your coats.

Now it's time to prepare our jackets for their final component.

Sewing is over? Sewing is over with, yeah.

and it's ready for marking.

Seriously, Cath? I'll give you a ring!

Well, the pressure's on here, this is the end of the line!

Brilliant!

Are your Mother Hem? I am.

And these are our two hem finishers?

They get hemmed first. Right.

Well, I try to be.

I am, yes. Right, OK.

Cath, are you the boss of finishing?

Russia, Japan, and Australia.

It's been incredibly satisfying seeing all that goes into making

it's a waxed jacket, ready to cope with the rainy weather.

Nearly 25 hours after we started processing our cotton,

Coming through, Dave. Where do you want it, on the right?

The beautifully studded jackets.

I've got to load these jackets. OK.

Excuse me, some of us have got work to do.

Helen, lovely to meet you. And you.

these British classics.

as well as countries as far afield as the USA,

The jackets head to stores right across the UK,

from there.

And then they're distributed out to all over the world

of the jackets from here.

We have one distribution point that takes all

because you're basically sending out six of these cages? Yeah.

That's why you haven't got a massive dispatch,

visiting one of the biggest croissant factories in the world.

You could hurt someone with those.

And Cherry learns what makes the perfect pastry.

the more I like it.

The more I learn about the croissant,

You know what?

Where every hour, 18,000 breakfasts roll off the production line.

That is a massage parlour for croissants.

That is fantastic!

And each cage will contain about 100 jackets.

..I'm in France,

This is hard work.

Next time...

There is, without doubt, a highly skilled workforce here.

And then when I realised that, how quickly they do it.

But what's amazed me is, it's virtually made by hand.

All the way from the wax cotton to the finished jacket.

I thought the process was fascinating.

Put your hand in the pocket.

Do you want a bag? Yes, I do want a bag, yeah.

And then you just fold it in half.

Every single jacket. Right, right, right.

Yes. Every single one?

Do you have to do this on every single one, or just...?

in just two minutes.

The team is so experienced, they can examine every centimetre

And zip it up.

That's it.

Check the eyelets on the pocket.

Check the back of your collar.

Fold it in half.

Washers on the eyelets.

Check for any weaving faults.

Right, show me what you're checking for. Right.

Yeah, it is.

That bar code is your jacket's DNA.

Cath, thank you, thank you so much. No problem.

We send out 650 jackets a day.

This might be the smallest dispatch area I have ever seen.

Now, you must be Helen? I am.

Helen Barbour.

..where I'm meeting company vice-chairman

Exceptional stud work.

Coming through, with a perfect batch!

Jackets finished, I'm taking them through to the dispatch area...

..before the finishing touch is added.

Leave this with me.

Over there, right? Yeah.

That's ready for dispatch.

Right, Gregg, that's the security tag on. Right.

That's your jacket complete.

Pop that into the bag.

I couldn't even do the bag!

I couldn't even get the bag the right way up.

Another popular way to keep off the rain is the humble umbrella.

Fox Umbrellas have been handcrafting brollies since 1868.

Thank you.

All right, you can stop now.

The simple technology has saved my skin on many an occasion.

I will not leave the house without my trusty umbrella.

If the weather is looking a little bit dodgy outside,

Cherry is finding out how they're made.

We spend an astonishing £10 million on them every year.

Their components and manufacturing methods have barely changed

Of course, waxed jackets are only one way to stay dry.

Thank you so much. Thank you.

We've finished too? We've finished too.

Are you coming there? No. We've finished.

Do you want to pick it up and take them?

Does that actually mean the finish? Yes.

Finishing section? Finishing section.

The hem and the studs is done in the finishing section.

I've got 15 different woods to choose from.

It's about 100 years old.

What an amazing machine.

The first job is to cut my stick to size.

and easy to work with.

Not only is it strong, but maple is also very supple

It's got lovely graining in it, very strong.

That's maple.

I love that one, because it's got lots of interesting markings on it.

And that is obviously not finished.

Isn't that beautiful?

Oh, beautiful, wow!

This is where we choose what wood we're going to use.

Each and every one begins with the handle.

..oversees production of 400 brollies a week.

Hi, John. Hi, how are you doing?

Today, factory owner John Garrett...

in 150 years.

of the major sections put together.

The sleeves!

But there are a couple of vital elements missing.

We've got 18 of our waxed cotton puzzle pieces in place.

get any mistakes.

These girls are so skilled that very rarely we ever

That fits perfectly in line.

And that fits perfectly.

That's brilliant!

Now...

This is the first time that I've seen one, two, three

We are now attaching the two fronts to your back.

Come on, come on, come on!

Is it being put together here? Yes, it is.

And it finally begins to resemble the jacket I know!

The zip is fitted...

It's taken more than 24 hours of production to get to this stage.

And that's the pocket I saw put on.

The collar is the last piece to attach.

Studs on it?

But it's got no...

Hang on...

One with the finished collar on it, please?

Oh, let me see!

hardwearing corduroy.

Waxed cotton below, and around the neck,

It has two layers.

That's absolutely incredible.

Over here? Yes.

Collar goes on it in your next stage.

But there's still no collar on it, right?

So the sleeve actually follows the shape of the jacket.

of the sleeve.

Christine knows which is the back of the sleeve and the front

Because there's no pattern to follow.

This looks tricky, the sleeves. It is.

Oh, that is fabulous.

So then it will be sealed with the repellency.

The waterproofing process is done when the fabric is woven together.

are being cut out for my canopy.

Next door, eight panels of lightweight, waterproof polyester

down the street like this. You would.

I think I'd get a few funny looks if I walked

I think we need to put a cover on it.

It's more kind of helicopter than an umbrella, isn't it?

So it's an actual chemical and also the way the material is made

Stretchers attached, fixing the ribs is straightforward.

All right! Then we're going to use the cutters.

There we go!

It's definitely a job for the professional.

No, that way!

Keep the umbrella pointing down. That way?

That's going in, you stay in there!

Oh no, they've all come off. They've all come off.

And it's absolutely perfect.

Just that little bit there, yeah. OK.

Once it's in place, I need to iron out any creases...

If it's not tight enough, we'll get a droopy canopy.

OK, you can do the rest!

It really hurts.

You're just pulling it up and hooking it over.

to attach the tips.

At last, my frame and canopy are brought together and it's time

You've lost one.

That was so fast!

Look at that.

A team of highly skilled machinists stitch our panels together.

And there's your cover.

Ta-da!

So when it's all stitched together, the thread is waterproof as well.

And not only that, we use waterproof thread as well.

is waterproof? Exactly.

for the springs.

Then simple steel springs are hammered into the groove.

I feel so proud!

Did it work? It worked.

The blade cuts an 8.5cm-long channel into the wood.

And then pull away.

Keep going until it stops. Yeah.

in the open or closed position.

The slots will house the wire springs which lock the umbrella

And a runner is slid onto the stick.

So the next stage is, we're going to cut the slots

from members of the royal family to US President John F Kennedy.

This machine has made brollies for some illustrious customers,

Keep it on the blade.

Oh, my God, I really don't want to mess it up.

It's the perfect height for the average person.

36 inches in length.

We'll use a belt-driven circular saw to trim it to precisely

out the canopy.

This is...

yeah, perfect.

Then move, hold your index finger and hold that one,

Then that's come out. So, yeah.

Then that one gets... First one's come out.

Get that second one in, you've got that.

to the runner with one-millimetre-thick wire.

Now, the fiddly task of attaching my stretchers

It takes just seconds for this hi-tech sewing machine

A hinge, so this is the stretcher part, so this is what pushes

These are the ribs. And then you've got kind of hinge here.

This is like the skeleton of the umbrella.

support the canopy.

The next job is to attach the steel frame, which will

It's so simple and yet so brilliant and elegant.

And then the top spring locks it in place there.

So this locks in place here on this spring.

Looks like the Hadron Collider, this is immense!

you've got the vertical threads, and then the horizontal threads.

Right, so if we've got our piece of material,

The warp are the vertical threads that we need to begin our weaving.

What is a warp?

and we're creating the warp.

What we're doing is, we're taking our twisted threads

What is going on in here?

This is our warping machine.

This is doing the vertical threads? Yep.

Are you trying to smash particles together?

Holy moley!

they're spun onto a drum with a seven-metre circumference.

Before these yarns can be woven together,

The blue, the denim, a green and brown or a bronze colour. Yes.

Here, we have four colour components for this tweed.

but also produces a thread that's stronger and denser.

Twisting them together not only creates a new colour,

on this hi-tech rapier loom.

The loom lifts each alternate warp thread,

happening about six times a second.

across to the other side of the cloth and that's probably

they meet in the middle, transfer that thread

the weft thread, bringing it into the middle,

So we have two rapiers at each end which are basically picking up

Look at that go.

Oh, my goodness me!

so literally just put a twist on the yarn. Right!

Now we're ready for them to meet the horizontal weft threads

called a beam, which will create the vertical pattern.

The threads are rolled onto this huge bobbin,

150 centimetres wide.

This warp is made up of 2,000 threads, which will produce a fabric

I'm hanging on by a thread. Yes.

Am I with you? You're with me.

And that's called a warp? A warp.

We're on our way to making water resistant coats.

making traditional heavy-duty tweed.

sound of mechanical looms

200 years ago, these streets would have rung with the clattering

where Cherry is learning her warp from her weft.

Historically, it was made in the Scottish borders town of Hawick,

Tweed!

another very British fabric ruled the roost.

But long before waxed cotton came along,

And they would have needed it in weather like this.

I don't think jackets are supposed to be this complicated!

so the enzyme can soak in.

And then it's wrapped in polythene for six hours,

It takes 45 minutes to dip all our cotton.

the enzyme to work.

The longer you leave it, the longer you are giving

the starch in our food.

It's also present in saliva, where it helps to break down

That's an impressive great wall of yarn.

What we are wanting to do is to twist those into a combination,

we're combining two colours together.

Yeah, OK, so the first stage here,

My goodness me!

tweed's complex colours.

First, these vibrant shades need blending to help create

It's amazing, isn't it?

The great wall of yarn, it is indeed.

and a computer-controlled rapier carries the weft thread

Hi, James, lovely to meet you. Hello, good to see you!

James Fleming is the operations manager.

of this iconic cloth every year.

Here at Lovat Mill, they produce 125 miles

to repel water.

But it's the tight weave of this woollen fabric that helps it

and intricate colour combinations.

Tweed is famous for its diagonal twill pattern

It is green!

First, a giant mangle squeezes out 25% of the moisture.

After a five-hour swim in the hot dye, our cloth needs drying.

Mate, if I get picked up by aliens, can you tell my wife I love her?

As we disappear!

95 degrees Celsius.

while the liquid heats up to a positively steamy

And the cotton is dipped in and out 16 times,

The colour floods into the bottom of the dying machine.

Then, it travels through a 16-metre long oven,

All right, all right, all right.

of dye powder.

And it dissolves as fast as our eight and a half kilos

It's the same stuff our dishwasher tablets come wrapped in.

You can't put the plastic in there! It's dissolvable plastic.

That's it, let go of the plastic.

What, the whole bag?

No, no, just lower the bag in.

Yeah, because the wax and the oil will change that colour again.

This is all just waxing, yeah.

That thing there, this machine, all this just for waxing it?

Gregg. Pleased to meet you, Gregg.

Are you Jimmy?

Managing director Jimmy Campbell is overseeing this crucial job.

for its all important wax layer.

Dyed and dried, the cotton for our coats is finally ready

Right, right.

What, empty it in?

But that doesn't look like the jacket as I know it.

You've ruined it! No, that's plenty dark.

That's too light! No, it's not.

The colour doesn't look right!

can actually be treated so strenuously. Yeah.

I can't believe something I considered as delicate as cotton

God, that is red hot!

emerging an hour and a half later perfectly dry.

Ten metres of tweed roll off each hour.

Full of really, really odd words!

And full of lots of hard work as well.

It is indeed.

It is a material that is full of history.

There it is, washed, pressed, and ready.

Wow!

repairing any imperfections by hand.

And experts meticulously inspect every centimetre,

After more than ten and a half hours of production,

and you see the intricacies of the weave and the colour mixtures.

Yeah, completely, it's just, it bursts out when you get closer

Absolutely jam-packed full of colour.

It's full of colour! It's amazing.

and the process repeats, gradually building up our twill pattern.

Then a bar pushes the weft down onto the warp,

on the other side.

through the gap, passing it to another rapier

You said it was green!

and just lower that bag into the tank.

Right, Gregg, so if you want to take hold of that bag,

Don't mess it up, because no-one is going to want orange jackets!

And that will make green?

There's a yellow, a red, and a blue.

Yes, because there's three colours in here.

That, my friend, is orange.

It is green.

The enzyme is called amylase.

Lift that out of there.

That's the colour, yes.

Is that the dye?

we're making.

So it's ready to become the classic sage green of the coats

It's fed by hand into the dyeing machine.

through its own colour transformation.

our giant roll of plain cotton fabric is about to go

of one of their best sellers.

Production manager Derek Orr is checking in today's shipment.

Every week, a lorry arrives here laden with cotton.

..to the Halley Stevensons textile mill.

to the Scottish city of Dundee...

And to get that, I'm heading 190 miles north,

we're going to need a super-size batch of cloth.

But before we start making our waxed jackets,

The Bedale in sage green.

You must be Derek? Yep.

This time, we're following production

25 different designs.

More than 150 people cut, stitch and rivet

for 125 years.

Because after all, they've been making them

The guys here know a thing or two about jackets.

A stone's throw from Newcastle upon Tyne.

This is the Barbour factory in South Shields.

That's a phenomenal amount.

Our first stop is a batching machine

Right. Nice and heavy.

..production of our waxed jackets begins.

As the raw cotton enters the mill...

Come on, come on. OK. Where do we go?

Can you show me what you do to that cotton, please? Yes.

And there are 133 of them on board.

One roll is enough to make 333 jackets.

Welcome to Inside the Factory.

500 metres.

If one of those was rolled out flat, what's the length of cotton?

That makes each one about two Gregg Wallaces.

They're around about 160 kilos a roll.

And how much does one of those rolls weigh?

This is the roll cutting.

What is this, please?

Good to meet you. Hi, Gregg.

The jackets made in this factory are exported to more than

..cotton goes through to become a coat.

That's obviously supposed to happen, right? Yes.

And tonight I'll be following the blistering work-out...

You can feel the power of it.

I'm Gregg Wallace.

You're putting me off.

Right.

40 countries across the globe.

This is my stand.

Famous worldwide.

It's an icon of British style.

And few items work as hard to keep us dry as the humble waxed jacket.

You're going to need that. Oh, no.

clothing every year.

It's no surprise then, that we spend nearly £1 billion on outdoor

talking about nothing else.

On average, we spend over five months of our life

Oh, yeah!

and 25,000 rivets.

Getting through 2,600 metres of fabric

the people in this factory will stitch together 650 jackets.

Come rain or shine, over the next 24 hours,

Smell that linseed oil!

it would make enormous sense? Yeah!

I suppose if you've got waterproof sailcloth hanging around,

..investigates the fishy origins of waxed jackets.

that we're loading with our fabric.

And historian Ruth Goodman...

I'm hanging on by a thread. Yes.

And unravelling the technology behind tweed.

That's breathable? That's it.

That is my waterproof jacket? Yeah.

I'm Cherry Healey and I'm learning the dark art of defying a deluge.

And here's me moleskin pocket. Yeah.

That's your stand.

It's whipping through at a carefully calculated one metre a second.

That's correct. Give it a smooth finish?

So you're burning all the hairy fibres off it?

Erm, yes.

Come on, mate, you must have done.

Have you ever set light to a fabric?

It is, a lot of it is trial and error, initially.

and setting light to the whole thing?

It's got to be a fine balance between burning the hairs off

A nice smooth finish, yeah.

We would set the fabric alight.

If we slowed this down, we would burn holes in the cloth.

That is flame! Speed.

What stops the material itself from burning?

That's hotter than an erupting volcano.

at 2,000 degrees Celsius.

The singeing machine is shooting out gas-fuelled flames

You will see it.

then pulled in and out of it seven times.

Then we can wash it off, yes.

And then you can wash it off?

And that makes it easier to remove.

We're adding an enzyme to break down the starch into sugar.

But detergent alone isn't enough to shift it.

like a barrier to the dye, stopping it from taking evenly.

We are going to be colouring our cotton and the starch would act

What are you doing there? We need to get rid of the starch.

and especially after dyeing.

The cotton is plunged into the near boiling water,

So what is the temperature of that? 95 degrees.

Thermal springs? Almost.

Don't tell me.

immediately gets another scalding.

After its baptism of fire, our newly shorn cloth

Almost as smooth as your head!

How thorough is it?

It helps with the strength

We need one long length of cotton to make processing easier.

There's no time for snoozing.

Can you turn the light out now?

Are you all right on that side?

It looks like we're getting in bed together!

Do we have to stand here holding this?

Its thread count is around the same as my bed sheets at home.

of the fabric, durability, and water repellency.

So we're joining five shorter pieces end-to-end with a hefty

Why do you want such a dense weave?

Really, what you've got is a tightly woven dense fabric.

Just to strengthen the yarn during the weaving process.

Why add starch?

No, it's the starch in the fabric that is making it stiff.

This is stiff.

I was expecting this to be like a loose cotton sheet.

This feels stiff to me.

But I wasn't expecting the process to be such an extreme regime.

Because it will affect the overall appearance of the fabric

Why can't it have a few stray hairs left on it?

getting rid of them.

We're taking off any hairs on the outside of the fabric,

We're singeing off any loose fibres.

What's it doing?

That's obviously supposed to happen, right? Yes.

That is on fire!

We're starting near the top of this 15-metre tall metal monster

as a hard wearing jacket.

Our fabric needs to be tough enough to make the grade

a mile and a half long.

It takes three hours to create a giant sheet of cotton

And press down on it.

And we're ready to roll.

So, to start, all you do is put your foot on that pedal.

hand-held sewing machine.

It's a complex three-dimensional jigsaw, made up of the waxed cotton

It could be.

I mean, messing it up must be the most expensive thing ever?

On 100 jackets, yeah.

one jacket, you get it wrong on 100?

If you get this wrong, you don't get it wrong on

It all starts with cutting out.

and a heavy-duty zip.

outer, a tartan lining, 29 studs, ten eyelets,

The layers must be perfectly aligned to minimise mistakes.

The company's been producing this traditional style for 39 years.

That'll do nicely.

so the least amount of material is wasted.

Computer software has arranged them on the paper,

There are 23 waxed cotton parts for our jacket.

Yep.

These are all the different pieces of the jacket?

Yes, it is. It is. Turn round.

to the prep section,

Quite heavy.

You can put those down.

I am, Gregg. Can I put these down?

Janice! Are you Janice?

And with her 30 years' experience, I'm in safe hands.

Janice Warner is the team leader.

Everything fitting OK?

where seven of the jacket's pieces are assembled.

The pattern is all the different shapes, right?

of my jacket, I'm heading from the cutting room

And now, nearly 23 and three quarters hours into production

After 42 minutes of cutting, I've got all the waxed cotton I need.

Very sharp.

I can see why you have to wear that glove.

It's razor-sharp, so requires a chainmail glove.

Gary's using a blade that's a cross between a scalpel and a saw.

So these are now clamped down firm? Yeah.

Stop there.

And then we drop the clamp down, it keeps the material in place.

The machine's job is to measure out waxed cotton into 1.5 metre squares.

Wow!

If you want to go that way, you turn it to the opposite way.

If you want to go that way, you turn it towards you.

This control here.

This is where the fun starts.

Right, then.

Oh, I see. And you go back again?

Keep going?

as an automatic fabric spreader.

We load our roll into what's known in the trade

Is it just pressing the button? Yup, that one's up.

Right, can I do that? Course you can!

Right, we have to hoist it up onto the machine.

Right. How do we make these into jackets?

Yes, I am.

And cut, right?

If you wouldn't mind putting that on for us?

Right, we need to put the pattern on and get ready to cut.

So, what do we do now?

We could be a team, Gary. We could.

which takes us 59 minutes.

I'm helping to make one coat but they cut them in batches of 100,

No, luckily.

Has that ever come off the end?

Right, what are we doing, then? You're going to make a stand.

And back again?

The super sharp blade slices through our fabric.

Whoa!

Whoa!

So that is the button so you just press it.

And now we need to cut it.

Just the right size to make one jacket.

And you go back up that end.

I am.

The powerful suction holds the front panel in place.

Press your left pedal, you'll feel a suction.

Watch your pedals.

Take a seat.

How hard is this, Kerry?

Don't let Kerry bully me. I'm harmless!

to you what you've got to do and how you've got to use it.

It is complicated, but Kerry is going to explain

Hang on, it's now sucked this cloth down to the table.

Right, now, you're not going to let me have a go at this, are you?

And it can even cut as well as sew.

the pocket perfectly.

This clever machine has a laser guidance system to place

It's a tightly woven soft cotton.

Right, but it's not really made out of moles. No.

They're furrier? Yeah.

I've held a hamster, they're furrier.

Put this one on top of your welt.

You press once, twice, three, there you are.

And then do it again.

Whoa! Just once, one at a time!

Press your left pedal.

There? Yeah.

And line that side up.

I'm sure that's an old Yorkshire saying.

Put me moleskin on top of me welt?

Have your touched a mole, Kerry? No.

And if you get the moleskins.

Like that there, yeah?

Just lie it to the corner.

And then that's gotta...

Yeah, that's it. That way up? Yeah.

Pick a welt up. Is that it there?

So that makes sure all the bits don't move.

Right, go on.

So basically you are feeding that material down two sides

We get them transferred over and then Florrie is attaching

So, stands are done.

That's one and a half a minute. It is that. Right.

90. 9-0? 9-0.

Joyce can make 90 of these stands in an hour. 90?

How many does Joyce make in an hour?

All right, and stitching them up at the end.

of a metal funnel? Yes.

a front stand onto the front of your coat.

That does not look simple. No, it's not.

Yes.

Is that the stand there that's being made?

protecting the zip and keeping out draughts.

The stand runs down the centre of the jacket,

but most important pieces.

We're starting with one of the smallest

This is one of the parts that you cut out.

Nice to meet you.

How would we know if it's authentic?

Me neither.

Well, I've never touched one. I wouldn't know.

Is that what a mole is going to...

Have a go.

Have you ever touched a mole? No.

of the jacket. Moleskin?

This is where we put the moleskin handwarmers into the front

Are you Gary?

This is Kerry. Hello, Kerry.

Hello. Hiya..

specially designed for frozen fingers.

..where they add two handwarmers,

before it's passed onto the next station...

It takes 30 seconds to sew the stand onto the front panel,

Yes!

Is that a stand and deliver?

to create enough fabric for 1,666 waxed coats.

But in fact, the history of this particular fashion item

and open countryside.

that springs to mind is muddy boots and cocker spaniels

Often, when you think of wax jackets, the first image

Ruth went to find out.

But where did the idea of smearing a jacket with wax come from?

before sending it to our jacket factory.

They roll it into shorter lengths, and let the colour fully mature,

is a far fishier tale.

It's taken over 20 hours of production,

and that's where we've ended up.

That's the shade we started with before waxing,

and it starts to look granite.

The more you stare at this, the less green it looks

Our whole batch of cotton runs through in just two hours.

Can I see it in its finished state? Come on, let's go.

I'm surprised when people lean on the wall, they don't slip off.

Well, in the 15th century, fishermen here who were trawling

And I suppose if you've got waterproof sailcloth hanging around,

And then they used that to fashion capes and hats for themselves.

to make sure that it becomes waterproof.

They would have used fish oils, grease or tar, whatever was at hand

It slows them down.

Yes, and when it gets waterlogged... It slows them down?

So, I mean, sailcloth, we're talking about this sort of stuff here?

the harsh seas were waterproofing their sailcloth.

That's quite incredible.

and wax jackets?

What on earth is the connection then between fishing boats

..to meet fashion historian Dr Jane Tynan.

Can I come aboard? Yes, you can.

Hello!

I've come to the historic harbour of Cellardyke...

off the east coast of Scotland.

The story of this garment starts off in the cold waters

Is that enough to melt it and use it?

A paraffin wax. Like your candle wax.

type chemical.

We've got a petroleum jelly, so petroleum jelly is like lip balm

It's a combination of three compounds.

What wax is it?

Enough to cover all 2,500 metres of our cotton.

In here, there's around 1,900 litres.

Yes, it allows it to be applied easier.

Then a refined oil.

So we hold to the wax in here about 95 degrees centigrade.

It looks like the chip shop. It does!

A deep fat fryer. It's a bit like that.

Do you know what that actually reminds me of?

You haven't got a little Nessie hiding in there, have you?

Is there something in there?

This is it.

with a tank of liquid wax.

That's beginning to look like the jacket? Yeah, it is, yeah.

of the weave.

Well, it's actually a combination of the wax and the tightness

And is that what keeps the rain out?

Yeah. Is your wax? That's correct, yeah.

So a third of the jacket is wax?

of wax over that. Really? Yeah.

Yeah, so that's 200 gram cotton, and we're adding about 100g

Do you know how much wax has gone on to that cotton?

it would make enormous sense? Yeah.

OK, now that is certainly the right colour.

Wow!

So that's just come out of the wax bath.

And the cotton is dunked in, just once, for three seconds.

The hot oily wax is pumped into a bath.

of the finished jacket.

It's a blend designed to maximise the water resistance and strength

Refined oil like you put in your car? Yeah.

Oh, yeah!

that we think of today.

Yeah, this is more like the wax jacket

Now this looks even more modern to me.

It was prone to cracking and turned yellow in the sun.

However, linseed oil wasn't without drawbacks.

Very much, yeah.

This is very much the gent out in the countryside feel, isn't it?

How does it feel? It's good!

It's a darker colour, because instead of the linseed oil,

I can't help myself!

Beautiful, yeah. Beautifully lined.

This is, look at that lovely corduroy collar.

I mean, this isn't rough workman's garment, is it? No.

It's clearly made with a different market in mind.

It is, yes, and it's still being infused with linseed oil.

OK, so it's still cotton.

by usually men for leisure pursuits.

than a Scottish fisherman,

..where Gary York's been cutting his cloth for 27 years.

My first stop is the cutting room...

I'm helping to make one from scratch.

ready to be turned into jackets.

a delivery of waxed cotton has just arrived,

At the factory in South Shields,

And then it ends up being worn by fashionable, urban people.

in his work gear, covered in fish scales.

it's moving away from the fishing industry, and we find it used

I mean, you can't get much more down-to-earth

It's rather funny, isn't it, really?

So essentially, then, this is the modern wax jacket?

This is from around 1930.

So when does this one date from?

in terms of technology.

So this is much more pliable, this is an improvement

it's infused with paraffin.

than the old fish oil, and much less odour.

I love it, I do love it.

They smell like linseed oil.

what the fishermen might have worn in the late 19th century.

Well, we've got some replica oilskins here,

What on earth are these lovely things then, Richard?

And local historian Richard Wemyss has some examples to show us.

water-resistant clothes known as oilskins.

By the 1850s, old cotton sails were being turned into

So this is cotton, with the linseed? Yes, that's right.

which was much more efficient

They would have treated it with linseed oil at the time

And the cotton was much better for that.

They would have needed to move very, very quickly.

on the famous 19th-century tea clippers.

Problems that were solved when cotton sails were introduced

were smelly and heavy.

But this early sailcloth was linen and the garments made from it

sort of make do and mend and using scraps of sail,

We're still dealing with an oilskin, but by this time,

This is the Findlay Cape from around 1910.

It is.

So what have we got here? This looks remarkably modern to me.

And this seafaring staple made its way ashore.

canny entrepreneurs spotted an exciting new market.

By the beginning of the 20th century,

into a complete industry. Yes.

Famously, we Brits are obsessed by the weather.

If we think of some of the very early fishermen,

That's quite a big difference isn't it?

in the late 19th century.

of the fisherman's oilskins a year

One of the factories was producing at least 10,000 sets

so it was a significant industry for a very small town.

There were five oil skin factories in the town here

Oil skin production was big business in Cellardyke.