I know what you’re thinking: cable knits ought to be accessorised with pipe and slippers, unless they are being pressed into use on a trawler. Or by folk singers. Well, welcome to this season’s knitwear, where the Aran jumper is very much back in fashion.
Of course, plenty of stylish men have understood the Aran appeal before. Unlike flat knits, which rely on either colour or pattern to grab your attention, the Aran is in three dimensions, with designs that are stand-out. Whether that’s why the costume designer on the original Thomas Crown Affair put Steve McQueen into a classic ecru Aran while he beach buggyed around, I do not know. But back in 1968, Hollywood’s most stylish leading man was cable-clad.
As was another “king”. Somewhat astonishingly, given its cosy, rural associations, Elvis wore an Aran jumper in the 1957 movie Jailhouse Rock. The famous sequence where he performs the title track has him in stripes and prison uniform, but there’s another where he’s wearing a cable-knit and backed by a band in, er, Hawaiian-style shirts.
That these two fashion icons rocked (in one case, genuinely) the homely Aran is significant. And when we add into the mix Ryan O’Neal in Love Story, John Lennon on holiday with his family in the Scottish Highlands and Chris Evans in Knives Out, it becomes undeniable that this knit really is one of the all-time style classics.
The origins of the Aran jumper are functional. Conceived about a century ago on the Irish islands just beyond Galway Bay that give it its name, the style was worn by fishermen sailing on bitterly cold seas and the cable pattern referenced the rope the sailors used. There is also a suggestion that the patterns on an Aran sweater had a macabre purpose: the motifs were specific to particular villages so that a drowned man could be more easily identified.
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The reality is that these jumpers have proved popular beyond seafaring folk, as much for their aesthetic appeal as their insulating properties. You can get a beautiful hand-knitted version in Scotland, or Connolly does an undyed natural number made from the wool of blue-faced Leicester sheep, which is a bit more McQueen. Connolly also has a white, chunky, oversized Aran funnel-neck in blended wool and cashmere with a giant cable motif.
At Sunspel the cable-knits are more modest and made from merino wool, which gives a jumper substance and softness. Polo Ralph Lauren has classic cotton cable knits, a wool and cashmere blend version and a pure cashmere version, in a variety of colours. And if cashmere is your preference then also check out the thick, 3D-cable raglan jumper in camel and the two crewneck versions with less pronounced cable rib by Scottish cashmere specialists Johnstons of Elgin. Or the cashmere cable-knit Mendel crewneck, the Treccia cardigan and the zip-collar sweater by Loro Piana (which also does a Treccia turtleneck – treccia means “braid” in Italian – in rare vicuña at the suitably rare price of almost £6,500).
As is often the way with classics, though,there is a game of reinvention afoot, such as a multicoloured patchwork cardigan and crewneck incorporating panels of Aran cabling from Country of Origin, a small British firm founded by a couple in Peckham, who for a while knitted every piece themselves. Meanwhile, Gucci has a retro Americana-style striped, cable-knit, zip-through bomber jacket and a cardigan, V-neck and crewneck in a similar style. All but the V-neck can be personalised through Gucci’s DIY service and ordered in multiple colour combinations. Gucci can add a giant initial to the back, which is much more straightforward than a village weave when it comes to identification.
