Nike weaver is awarded MBE 4/1/12
The island weaver who took Harris Tweed to a world stage with a high profile deal with footwear giant Nike has been awarded an MBE in the New Year’s honours list.
The award has been given to Donald John Mackay, from Luskentyre, Harris, for services to the industry.
The 59-
In 2004, he landed a surprise order of 10,000 metres of tweed from Nike. It provided an important boost to the sector which was then in the doldrums as Mr Mackay called upon other island weavers to help produce the cloth.
While the association with the iconic sportswear brand has certainly helped, more work has been provided by bumper orders from International fashion shoes empire Clarks.
They have commissioned Mr Mackay on a number of occasions. The first was for a new line in desert boots in 2005.
He is presently working on the latest design for Clarks. Mr Mackay is outsourcing the bulk of a large order for 16,000 metres to other weavers.
The Clarks brand is sold in some 150 countries with a strong focus on Germany, Japan, China, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Spain and Italy.