UNIVERSAL WORKS x FRONTIERS: 10 YEARS IN HARRIS TWEED

This year marks 10 years since we opened Frontiers Man and we wanted to make something to mark it properly.

Universal Works has been part of the shop since the beginning, so when the idea of an anniversary collaboration came up, they were one of the first names in the conversation. The result is a very small run of their Zip Overshirt, made exclusively for Frontiers in three Harris Tweeds.

Just 30 jackets have been produced - 10 in each cloth - with every one individually numbered - view here

A Longstanding Relationship

Universal Works has been on our rails since we opened the men’s store in 2016.

There’s always been a natural crossover between the two businesses: good fabrics, useful clothes, strong design and pieces that are made to be worn rather than saved for best. Ten years on, it felt right that they should be part of how we marked the anniversary.

Nigel, who founded Frontiers Man, says:

“We wanted to mark 10 years with something that genuinely felt like Frontiers. Universal Works has been an integral part of the shop since day one, and as we have grown over the decade, they’ve grown with us. So they were one of the first people we thought of when we started talking about doing something special for the anniversary.

Harris Tweed felt like the obvious way to bring Edinburgh and Scotland into it. We chose three fabrics we really loved, kept it to just 10 jackets in each and had every one individually numbered. It’s a very small run, which is exactly what we wanted.”

Three Harris Tweeds

The starting point was Universal Works’ Zip Overshirt - a simple, easy shape that lets the cloth do most of the talking.

For the collaboration, we chose three very different Harris Tweeds: a rich burnt orange, a warm small-scale check and a darker blue and rust check.

Harris Tweed felt like the obvious material for the project. It brings a distinctly Scottish element to a Universal Works shape we already know well, while the texture and depth of each cloth gives the jacket a completely different character.

Each one also carries the Harris Tweed label alongside a specially made Frontiers x Universal Works anniversary label.

10 of Each. 30 in Total.

The production run was kept deliberately small.

There are 10 jackets in each Harris Tweed, with every piece individually numbered from 01 to 10 on an embroidered label inside the jacket.

No restocks. No second run.

David Keyte, founder of Universal Works, says:

“Thinking of a collaboration with our good friends and Edinburgh stockists, Frontiers Man, we wanted to make something that felt right for them and for the place they are in.

Harris Tweed seemed like the obvious choice. It has to be one of Scotland’s best-known fabrics and one we’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for at Universal Works.

It’s really a celebration of Frontiers, the fabric, Edinburgh and the relationship we at UW have built with the shop over the years. Good fabric, good friends and a very limited number of good things made from it, all of which seemed like a pretty good way to mark 10 years.”

And that pretty much sums it up.

Three Harris Tweeds. Thirty jackets. Ten years of Frontiers Man.

The Frontiers x Universal Works collaboration launches here on Friday 18 September at 10.30am, exclusively at Frontiers Man, in-store and online.