Skye by Brora gives heritage cashmere a youthful vintage twist

Sailor-collar tops, crochet sundresses and a lace-knit cardigan give Brora’s cashmere a lighter, more youthful register, and that is the point of Skye by Brora. The separate line is Brora’s bid to move beyond the customer who already knows the house for polished knitwear and toward women in their 20s and 30s who want heritage without looking inherited.

Brora was founded in March 1993 by Victoria Stapleton, and the brand says it has spent more than 30 years making fashion that is stylish yet timeless. Its knitwear is still produced in Scotland through a process of more than 50 stages, with some pieces made by mills that are more than 200 years old. That craftsmanship gives Skye by Brora real weight: this is not a throwaway capsule with a borrowed logo, but a family extension built on the same Scottish production story that underpins the main label.

The line was created for Brora’s 30th anniversary and co-designed by Stapleton’s daughters, Jesse Pilkington and Lola Pilkington. Launched first for autumn/winter 2023, Skye returned later with a 26-piece AW24 collection, a sign that Brora intended the project to last beyond a one-season experiment. The pieces reflect the sisters’ travels and research, which surfaced in a white broderie anglaise top with a sailor collar, crochet sundresses, a lace-knit cardigan and military-inspired tailoring. Those references push Brora’s signature cashmere into fresher territory, trading only-soft-for-soft’s-sake for something with a little more shape, nostalgia and daywear ease.

The timing also makes sense for a brand that has broadened its retail footprint without abandoning its identity. Brora says it has nine stores in the U.K. and one on Madison Avenue in New York, placing the house squarely in the lane of heritage labels that still need to speak to modern luxury shoppers face to face. Its position as a certified B Corp, with an emphasis on natural fibres and carbon neutrality, adds another layer of relevance for younger customers who want style with a cleaner conscience.

Skye by Brora looks less like a cosmetic youth play than a deliberate generational handoff. The vintage cues are specific, the product mix is wearable, and the family story feels authentic enough to carry the brand forward without flattening what made Brora matter in the first place.