Blamo! PATREON PREVIEW - Die, Workwear! - Mark Dunsford of Harrison's
Jan 29, 2026
Mark Dunsford, managing director of Harrison's of Edinburgh and steward of historic British cloth houses. He recounts his family’s start in the fabric trade. Conversations cover key acquisitions that shaped their range. They explore how mills, recipes and supplier ties create distinct tweeds and suiting. The thread runs from provincial warehouses to London accounts and catalogue expansion.
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Joining A Struggling Family Merchant
- Mark Dunsford joined the family firm Learbrown and Dunsford after working in a hotel and being encouraged by his uncle to try warehouse work.
- He describes slow afternoons playing cards and serving provincial tailors, painting how bleak the business looked before their later city breakthroughs.
How The Cloth Trade Used To Work
- Bunches (sample books) only became common around the 1960s; prior trade relied on pre-selling full rolls and personal sales calls.
- That old model limited choice and favored merchants who could physically sell rolls to regional tailors.
One Book And A Letter Changed Everything
- A single phone call from Pedersen and Becker transformed their business when Mark and James bought one book of 15–16oz cloth and mailed city customers by letter.
- Orders flooded in within days, opening London accounts and revealing demand they'd missed for years.