Britain’s Cat Deeley Breaks Into Design, With Help From Winser London

LONDON — Winser London has added another celebrity to its wall of fame, collaborating with British TV personality Cat Deeley on a capsule collection of chunky knitwear.

The collection, Knit by Cat Deeley for Winser London, marks the celebrity’s first foray into women’s wear design, and launches this month on winserlondon.com.

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The collection comprises three hand-finished styles knitted in Geelong wool yarn, made in Scotland.

The color palette includes soft chalk neutrals with flashes of pink, gray, blues and black. Styles include a wide-collared zipped patterned sweater, a midi-length patterned poncho and a chunky zip patterned cardigan with a soft collar.

Prices range from 350 pounds for the sweater to 850 pounds for the cardigan.

Kim Winser, a British retail veteran and the founder and chief executive officer of Winser London, said she likes Deeley’s personal style, and that it dovetailed with the ethos of the brand. “Successful, confident, stylish women in all walks of life are at the heart of everything we do,” she said.

Winser added that Deeley, a TV actress and longtime host of “So You Think You Can Dance,” designed the knits “with her signature flair. Having recently moved back to the U.K. with her family from Los Angeles, it seemed the perfect opportunity to co-create a range inspired by her personal style.”

Winser said the collection is being produced at a small independent factory, Teviots in Hawick, in the south of Scotland. “As a brand we always want to support homegrown, quality businesses.” The designs are hand-knitted in Scottish yarns from the luxury Scottish mill, Todd and Duncan.

Deeley said she partnered with Winser London because, “I have always been obsessed with clothes and the way they make you feel, how they contribute to your well-being and how being warm and cozy can make a physical difference to your mood.”

She said she collects knitwear, vintage and new, and has a “vast collection” of pieces.

“I have longed to have my own label, and so when Kim approached me, I decided to incorporate all that I loved about color and yarns into my tiny capsule collection under my very own Knit label. I loved creating it, and am so happy that we could have these pieces made in Britain and, most importantly, from British wool.”

Winser founded her direct-to-consumer contemporary label in 2013 and is formerly CEO of Pringle of Scotland and Aquascutum. The main Winser London collection comprises dresses, outerwear and separates in silk, merino wool and cashmere.

Over the years, Winser has made a habit of collaborating with actresses and other celebrities, including Gillian Anderson and Yasmin Le Bon.

In early 2020, pre-lockdown and in a nod to International Women’s Day, Winser asked some well-known names to snap selfies wearing her recycled cashmere ponchos.

Among those to oblige was the actress and Bond girl Rosamund Pike, singer KT Tunstall and members of Sister Sledge.

Winser London’s ponchos are recycled in Italy from old sweaters or other cashmere pieces, which are first collected and divided by color. The used items are then cut into tiny pieces and combed back into fibers before they are spun into new knits.

Having previously done much of its work out of Asia, Winser London has progressively been moving its operations closer to home in a bid to work more sustainably.

Its tweed jackets, coats, skirts and dresses are designed and sewn in London from British wool-blend tweed. The company refers to those pieces as “slow fashion,” encouraging customers to think quality not quantity.

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