Like many of Scotland's knitwear factories, Braemar was founded originally as the hosiery manufacturer Innes, Henderson and Co in 1868 in Hawick. As soft cotton eventually displaced scratchy wool in the undergarments trade in the late 19th century, the firm shifted production toward knitted outerwear styles such as the newly innovated pullover sweater. By 1920 Braemar had grown to be Hawick's largest enterprise and pioneered the widespread use of cashmere in knitwear. The Great Depression and Second World War, however, erased much of the company's primacy in the luxury market. The tumultuous post-war period of vacillating ownership presaged Braemar's decline and absorption by the international vertical conglomerate, Dawson International, in 1970. After four years, Dawson merged Braemar with another major Hawick subsidiary, Pringle, and the company ceased to trade within a short time. Decades later when the group struggled to retain its global hegemony, Dawson resurrected Braemar as a fantasy label, wholly owned and produced by its flagship subsidiary, Ballantyne of Innerleithen. After Ballantyne's sale to the investment group, Charme, in 2004, the Braemer name passed into Italian hands. In 2011 the ruins of Braemar's deserted Victoria Works at the bank of the Teviot river were at last demolished under municipal order.
The following video shows a rough overview of the intarsia process at (formerly Ballantyne) Caerlee Mills:
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