If you follow us on Twitter or Facebook, you may well have noticed our regular #MoreAboutMoon posts, detailing some of the more interesting and unusual parts of our story of heritage and craftsmanship in Tweet-sized nuggets. We’ve chosen a selection of those that proved most popular for this weeks Blog post; simply hover your mouse over the images below to reveal the #MoreAboutMoon facts. If you’re viewing on a touchscreen device, tap the image instead.
#MoreAboutMoon #1
Our in-house design team still use our many Archive books for inspiration. We hold archives dating back to the early 1900s, where fabrics for WW1 army jacketing and shirting slowly merge into the bright pastel fashion fabrics of the 1920's.
#MoreAboutMoon #2
Our fabrics are proudly on display in Downing Street on two wing chairs, upon which current Prime Minister David Cameron has been interviewed by both James Corden and Susanna Reid. Two of our designs were also chosen by Michele Obama for the foyer of The White House in 2008.
#MoreAboutMoon #3
The Dye House has the ability to produce over 500 different colours. These colours can then go through the process of blending where up to seven shades can be combined together, much like mixing paints.
#MoreAboutMoon #4
Each of these cones in the yarn store can hold up to 16,000 metres of woollen thread, all before it is tightly woven into a finished piece. If you unravelled just three of these cones and ran from one end to the other, you would have completed just over a full marathon distance.
#MoreAboutMoon #5
Company records show that we were exporting cloth to not only Europe, but to the Far East to countries like Japan as early as the 1890s. The mill used to have its own railway sidings to easily transport the fabrics to Leeds, from where it could make the journey further afield.
#MoreAboutMoon #6
All water that we use for scouring (washing) our fabrics is pumped from 800m directly below the mill itself. This pure Yorkshire water is one of the main reasons for the luxuriously soft handle of all our wools.
#MoreAboutMoon #7
We source our wool from ethical growers the world over. Whilst we use a portion of luxuriate British wools for our Apparel and Accessory collections, the majority is Merino Lambswool and Pure New Wool from international wool powerhouses South Africa and New Zealand.
#MoreAboutMoon #8
Last but certainly not least, 1837 was a memorable year in two respects. Queen Victoria ascended to the British throne at the tender age of 18, and Abraham Moon & Sons was founded in the small Yorkshire town of Guiseley.
