N.PEAL ®
The well-dressed and well-heeled businessman Nat Peal was a plucky man who knew an opportunity when he saw one. In 1936, a shop lay vacant in London’s famous Burlington Arcade: the cashmere brand N.Peal was born. Three years later, when war broke out Peal, quite fortuitously, found himself stationed on the Shetland Isles. From here, he could supply his new store with beautiful, high quality sweaters, woven directly from the wool of Scotland’s famous sheep. Being able to supply the London market with products of this quality and craftsmanship, during ration time, meant the N.Peal name became a name in demand.
Appointed as Creative Director in 2007, Sara Berman has eased N.Peal from its long-established design ideals of simplicity and understatement to the fashion-aware, design-led contemporary brand it has become today. A graduate of Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design, Berman set up her eponymous brand before her graduation ceremony, and was immediately stocked in Liberty, Harrods and many of the world’s other exclusive stores. As a designer, she understands what style means today, and has adapted these rules to fit our cashmere niche.
A woman of many talents, Berman juggles motherhood with fashion design. She has recently rediscovered her love of painting and through her portraits, which dance around the themes of memory and identity she has found a new level of artistic perspective.
With Sara at the helm, the design process at N.Peal is neat and perfectly formed. With her overall vision, we select a central theme for the season, which touches on current catwalk trends just as it does the evolution of our house shapes, colours and textures. Designs can start up to a year before the garments arrive in store, with detailed adaptations and refinements happening continuously, until we reach a refined piece of clothing that stays true to the original N.Peal principles of beauty and quality.