Images by Jenni Avins

The smoky-eyed schoolgirl opened her violet plaid jacket to reveal a large square label sewn inside: Harris Tweed, stamped with an orb and a sword.

“It’s the only brand protected by an Act of Parliament,” said a bushy-browed man over my shoulder, top-to-toe in tweed himself. “It’s like Champagne. It has to be made on the Island of Lewis.”

The man, Mr. Alan Bain, was responsible for selling John Patrick the speckled Scottish wools, which worked a charm in wide-legged trousers, window-paned riding jackets and high-waisted hot pants. (An orchid pink version inspired the first “Yes!” of the season to be scrawled inside my notebook.)

Vegetable-tanned leathers and a nouveau printed chiffon—a natural evolution of last season‘s watercolors—rounded out the bold tweeds, while little kid gloves and high-heeled oxfords (worthy of an editor I know) made the collection entirely transitional. Each of the thoughtful pieces would fit easily into an existing wardrobe, and make it just a little more complete, which fulfills at least one of Organic‘s many definitions.

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Alan Bain of Harris Tweed