About Urban Aran
Urban Aran is an independent Irish knitwear brand owned by Christine Murphy based in Waterford. Her collections offer a distinctive design approach in sophisticated pure super soft merino through a contemporary design process using jacquard and traditional Aran knitting techniques.
Her inspiration is drawn from professional street art, murals and paintings adorning urban walls in her home city of Waterford. Christine admired these wonderful artworks as part of The Walls project and decided to illustrate close-ups of photos she had taken showing peeling grout and etched paint and translated these drawings into vibrant contemporary knitwear.
Her goal was to work in support of her environment. Every single piece is lovingly made in small batch production using only RWS-certified as well as Woolmark-certified best-in-class wool. Christine designs and makes each sample in her studio and outsources final production to an Irish and EU small-scale producer who combines dynamic details and the highest quality of skill. Urban Aran maintains a conscious sustainable manufacturing process to ensure the process is respectful of the environment.
Our Ethos
Knitwear has been a wardrobe essential for generations. And our aim is to redefine these every day classics with original designs, unique twists and cool detailing through top quality natural yarns. Every piece is completed with an outstanding quality of workmanship.
We believe in slow fashion, designed and made for longevity. Our customers are not bound to seasonal trends. Sustainability, craftsmanship and provenance guide everything we make, and ensure the long-lasting appeal of our garments.
Why A Natural Fibre?
It is anything from a plant or an animal that can be spun into a filament of yarn. Natural fibres produce stunning fabrics, they knit and drape into a variety of soft and lustrous forms to deliver a luxuriously comfortable wear. Natural fibres are sustainable, carbon neutral and they biodegrade unlike acrylic or many other synthetic fibres.
Unlike man-made clothing, products made with natural fibres do not shed microbeads of non-biodegradable material when they are washed. Natural fibres are environmentally friendly.
LINEN
Linen is known as the world’s strongest natural fibre and more durable than cotton. The strength of the fibre directly contributes to the strength of the fabric the garment is made of. Thus, linen pieces are very long-lasting. Natural fibres are less energy intensive to produce than man-made yarns. Linen is breathable, allows air to move around freely and thus, releases moisture very fast. Linen clothing retains the heat from your body and releases the excess making you feel warm hence popular in winter as well as summer. Linen clothing is better for the environment because flax plant cultivation is by far more sustainable than that of cotton.
MERINO WOOL
For thousands of years sheep have evolved to withstand the harshest of conditions. A sheep’s wool protects them from the wind, rain and sun. Wool reacts to temperature, so it has the ability to keep you warm and it also wicks moisture, so it has the ability to remove heat and perspiration from your body to cool you down. As wool is a living natural fibre it means that it contains odour removing bacteria, unlike polyester which attracts bad bacteria.
MuLESING FREE WOOL
As a natural fibre merino wool will break down to its natural base elements and not pollute our oceans.
The wool that is purchased by Urban Aran is mulesing free meaning sheep are kept safe from insects in a non harmful way to the sheep.
This means we pay extra for our yarn but we believe it is a very worthy consideration of animal welfare