POTTED HISTORY NO. 3:
IAN MANKIN TICKING
The mills
The weavers
The cloth
When Ian Mankin, purveyor of natural fabrics, opened his shop in Primrose Hill in 1984, the trade was already second nature to him. His father had a fabric shop in Soho, which was listed as "an old fashioned shop with an original wooden counter . . . The shop is a source of cheap heavy-duty denim, unbleached calico and hessian, shirting and butcher's stripes."
All of these fabrics were incorporated into the younger Mankin aesthetic but it was his response to stripes that led him to ticking. From the Latin "theca" as in case or covering, this very tightly woven utility fabric was often dipped in starch to make it impenetrable to the feathers and quills it encased. It came in any colour as long as it was black and white, so Mankin set about changing the colour as well as the texture. Through trial and error he came up with a ticking that was soft enough for other uses, whilst introducing many more (but still very traditional) colours.
At the turn of the 18th century when William Blake referred to "those dark Satanic mills" in his poem Jerusalem, he was referring to the Industrial Revolution which had begun in the Midlands only a decade earlier. Lancashire was the centre of the textile industry and the town of Burnley, with its 79,000 looms, was the largest producer of cotton in the world.
Today only 22 looms remain, all owned by John Spencer Textiles, a family run business now in its sixth generation. They thrived by manufacturing nurse and Army uniforms, parachute fabric and shirting for Jermyn Street. When Ian Mankin first visited the mill he was impressed by the antique looms still in use and the variety of traditional fabric produced. "While I was there I spotted a roll of cream flannelette with a red stripe through it that I recognized from my National Service days as a cloth that was cut into squares and used to clean the barrel of a rifle. I persuaded them to make it as a check as well and we called it Rifle check and stripe." And so a partnership was born.
Because the Potted Histories are only concerned with happy endings, it must be added that when Ian Mankin decided to sell his business in 2009, he sold it to John Spencer Textiles Ltd., who are doing a bang up job in expanding the range of products available in the Ian Mankin fabrics. Several of which Ancient Industries are exceptionally proud to sell in America.
