MAN/WOMAN Conversations #05 – By Sprezza
- November 6, 2025
- 2:54 pm
Mots de Clayton Chambers
Howlin’ is a brand that doesn’t take itself too seriously, but takes what it makes very seriously.
Rooted in Belgian family heritage and produced using traditional Scottish and Irish techniques, Howlin’ has carved out its own niche in the knitwear world. They don’t chase trends, and they don’t try to replicate history. Instead, they blend time-honored craft with a cheeky, irreverent design sensibility that somehow makes perfect sense once you see the product. It’s knitwear but with bite.
At the MAN/WOMAN show in New York, I sat down with the two brothers behind the brand to talk about family legacy, why serious doesn’t have to mean boring, and how they turned loopwheeled wool into something entirely their own.
A brand born from two names
Clayton: First things first—can you clear up the name situation? What’s the deal with Howlin’ vs. Morrison?
Howlin’ team: Yeah, it’s confusing (laughs). Our parents originally started a company back in 1981. That was under the name Morrison. In 2007, they retired and closed up shop. Two years later, we started something new (Howlin’) but we wanted to keep some connection to the old name, hence “Howlin’ by Morrison.”
Today, Howlin’ is the brand. That’s what people know us for. But it all stems from the original family legacy.
Clayton: What made you want to focus on knitwear specifically?
Howlin’: Our parents were already working with Scottish manufacturers back in the ‘80s when Shetland knits were huge. But over the years, a lot of that production shifted to Asia. We felt like something was being lost. Not just in quality, but in spirit.
So when we started Howlin’, we wanted to bring that attention to detail back, but with our own twist. That meant small production runs, working with traditional mills, and doing it all in a way that felt fresh, not stuck in the past.
Clayton: A lot of knitwear brands lean traditional. You guys go the other way. Your stuff is fun, bold, bright. Where does that come from?
Howlin’: It’s just who we are. We didn’t want to make another line of oatmeal sweaters. We respect that world—those heritage knits are beautiful—but we’re not here to replicate them. We wanted to reimagine that energy and add our own flavor.
The factories we work with are using traditional machines, but we’re pushing those tools into weird, new directions. Custom yarns, hand-developed color palettes, offbeat graphics. It’s heritage through a warped lens. And it works.
Process, not predictions
Clayton: So, how do you approach a new season? What’s the process look like?
Howlin’: It’s not very trend-driven, let’s say that (laughs). We don’t care what the forecasting agencies are saying—“butter yellow is the color of the year” or whatever. Our process is much more tactile. Sometimes it starts with a fabric, or a print, or a record we’re listening to. We build worlds from those fragments.
We also make our own mixes (like playlists we press to cassette) and sometimes that becomes the starting point for a collection. The colorways might come from a song title. The graphics might riff on some forgotten jazz cover. It’s instinctive.
Clayton: Knitwear is usually a fall/winter story. But you’ve been expanding into spring/summer. How’s that going?
Howlin’: It’s been huge for us. We’re still making sweaters, of course. But now we do jersey, lightweight knits, custom fabrics, cut and sewn in Belgium. Everything is made in-house, and we don’t buy stock materials. We develop everything ourselves, down to the dyes and finishes.
That side of the business has grown fast. It lets us explore new textures, new fits. It’s still very much “us,” but it gives the brand a whole other dimension.
