S.N.S Herning. Let me start by saying this, as far as knitwear goes, you’ll struggle to find many other brands that come up trumps to the quality of woolen products they produce.
As a company, S.N.S. Herning was founded in 1931 by Soren Nielsen Skyt (1899-72) although he had been knitting and producing sweaters throughout the mid-to-late 1920′s. Knitting machines with so-called Jacquard strapping were being imported to Denmark from England & Germany – and Soren Nielsen Skyt bought one, and set out to have the machinery to make these patterns. S.N.S. Herning has been knitting the re-nowned fisherman’s sweater after the exact same recipe as that of the founder since 1931.
As a young man, he made a living from selling knitted garments of his own making in central Jutland, Denmark which is where the production factory, Skyt Strikvarer now lies. Early on as Skyt started out, he learned about a way of knitting garments with “bubble” patterns that would serve as insulation and protect its wearer from the rough weather at sea.
The mill is still situated in the city of Herning, and the knits are being crafted with the use of the same traditional technique & knowledge – with the son of the founder, Holger Skyt, heading the production. It is all about traditional technique.
In a recent interview with ‘Monocle’ magazine, the founders son, Holger described a brief history to how trends gradually progressed,
“In the old days, the fishermen wore three sweaters (in the winter) at once, the newest on the outside and oldest on the inside. Each year the fishermen would buy a new sweater and throw away the oldest. Today, we still sell sweaters to the fishermen, but I think they mostly wear them for nostalgic reasons..”
Continuing with the insight to where and how the SNS Herning brand came about, it was quite interesting to learn about the development over time of the brand. They’ve gone from being one of the most saught after brands in 70′s Denmark, with almost every Danish child owning one (or an imitation) and a point where there were 150 stores in Denmark stocking SNS. Whereas today, there are only 75 stockists, with nearly 50% outside of Scandanavia. It’s interesting to analyse the shift and almost re-invention of the company.
As a brand, they produce a number of different styles, however their most best seller is the Fisherman’s Sweater, or ’175′ as it is also known.
Looking more specifically at the products, some of the pieces available both in store and online at Ideology include the Stark and Version styles of cardigan and also the Torso Sweater.They’re all perfect for the Winter months, produced using top quality woolen fabrics and all made as ideal choices for the winter layering.
