The Beehive Brand is the brainchild of former Barbour designer Andrea Freeman. She explains why she wanted to bring the wartime heritage knitwear brand back to life

Born and raised in Darlington, County Durham, fashion designer and entrepreneur Andrea Freeman had always been fascinated by tales of the town’s Patons and Baldwins knitting wool factory, where many of her family had worked.

Andrea’s enthusiasm led her to collect a range of historical “Beehive” memorabilia, ranging from knitting patterns and shade cards for wool shops, through to fabulous original adverts from the post-war era of 1940s and 50s, when home knitting was “all the rage”.

So when Andrea secured the opportunity to revive the Beehive trademark, she didn’t hesitate. She decided to reinvent 230-year-old brand and brought mid-twentieth century knitting patterns back to life in a contemporary fashion range, which is selling globally. And in good heritage tradition, her range of knitwear for men and women is made from British wool and manufactured in the UK.

The first production run of the collection, entitled Men of Action and taking inspiration from wartime heroes and the original brand’s history, sold out online. Recent export trials have also been successful, securing the likes of Japanese retailer Journal Standard.

The knitwear collections are designed from Andrea’s studio in Darlington. “The shapes needed a little adaptation from the original Beehive patterns to fit the modern figure, as our grandparents were certainly more slight in stature than we are today but this has all been part of the challenge.

“It seemed very natural at the time to come home to the North-East after 15 years in the industry to start my own label. The Northern Powerhouse is high on my agenda – I’m passionate about doing business here and proving fashion doesn’t belong to London. Looking ahead, we’ve got lots of exciting plans including recruitment at the studio in Darlington. The Men of Action range will be expanded and The Nordic collection will also be introduced next year.”

The 2016 and 2017 ranges will be offered to key wholesale partners to increase Beehive’s presence in the UK and Ireland, but alongside this focus, Andrea is looking to further establish international links with export trials. “The Men of Action collection has attracted great interest in Japan, where the English gentleman look is very popular so it’s important we capitalise on this trend and strengthen our new partnerships in Europe and Asia,” she says.

Alongside running her business Andrea is also an associate lecture at Teesside University. She spent seven years as design and development manager at Barbour, the South Shields-based outdoor brand which counts the Queen among its army of dedicated followers, coming up with new styles each season and helping the company branch out into using different materials from their traditional waxed cotton. The designer then turned entrepreneur and launched her own label, Redana Stufio, selling scarves made from recycyled materials gathered from across the globe.

“I’ve worn a lot of hats over the years, but being able to create the next chapter in the Beehive story is certainly a highlight,” she says. “I’d love to start designing children’s knitwear under the Beehive brand so watch this space.”

The Men of Action AW15 collection includes Great British Fairisles taken from the Beehive emblem, Argyle and cable knit jumpers sit comfortably alongside Beehive pointelle and fine gauge twinsets.

History of Beehive

Established in 1785, the business began as two separate companies, founded by James Baldwin of Halifax and his Scottish counterpart John Paton. Both individuals had each formed their businesses using the spinning-mule developed by Samuel Compton, which revolutionised the manufacturing industry and textile trade.

In 1920 the two companies, J. and J. Baldwin’s Wool and Paton’s Yarn’s, individually known for their commercial wool then merged, creating Patons and Baldwins and diversified into producing wool for home knitters as well as publishing knitting patterns under the “Patons Rose” and “Baldwins Beehive” trademarks.

The 1930s saw the company grow to establishments across Scotland and the North of England, including factories at Billingham and Jarrow and also in Canada and New Zealand. In 1951 the headquarters of the business was relocated from Halifax, West Yorkshire to Darlington, where it is still located and the Darlington factory was hailed as 'the most modern and largest single storey plant of its kind in the world' and was the first major post-war industrial development in the town.” At its peak, the firm employed more than 3,000 people.