There is a version of history that most people in the textile trade know well, and then there is the version that actually matters to those of us who work with fabric every day. The story of the necktie begins, as many sartorial traditions do, somewhere unexpected — in this case, with Croatian mercenary soldiers in 17th century France, who wore knotted scarves around their necks as part of their military dress. King Louis XIII, never one to miss a fashion moment, took a liking to the style and adopted it for the French court, and from there, as they say, the rest is history. What I find genuinely fascinating, though, is not the origin story itself but what happened over the next three centuries — the way a piece of cloth worn for purely decorative military purposes gradually became one of the most symbolically loaded garments in professional and institutional life. And at the centre of that transformation, doing the quiet, skilled work that most people never think about, you will always find tie manufacturers.

I would say that most people, when they think about a tie, think about the finished product — the colour, the pattern, the knot. What they don't think about is the complexity of what goes into producing it. The distinction between a printed tie and a woven tie alone is enough to illustrate the point. A printed tie starts with a base fabric, usually polyester or silk, and the pattern is applied to the surface after weaving. It is cost-effective and versatile, and there is nothing wrong with it for certain applications. A woven tie, on the other hand, has the pattern built directly into the fabric structure itself, thread by thread, on a jacquard loom. The depth, the texture, the way light moves across the surface — these are qualities you simply cannot replicate with printing. Serious tie manufacturers understand this difference intimately, and the choice between the two processes shapes everything about the final product. 

Don't get me wrong — not every tie needs to be woven on a jacquard loom. But when it comes to custom ties for schools, corporates, or institutions where the design needs to carry real weight and last for years without fading or losing its integrity, the manufacturing process matters enormously. Back in the day, when corporate identity programmes were gaining traction in South Africa through the 1970s and 1980s, companies began to understand that a tie was not just an accessory — it was a walking representation of the organisation. The same realisation had taken hold in British public schools much earlier, where the house tie and the school tie became powerful markers of belonging and tradition. South African schools followed suit, and that heritage is something we still see in the demand for quality school ties today. The tie manufacturers who understood these institutional needs, and who could deliver consistent quality at scale, were the ones who built lasting reputations. 

At Vinuchi, this is something we think about constantly. Custom ties are not simply ties with a logo on them — they are objects that carry identity, and producing them well requires a particular kind of commitment to both craft and consistency. These days, the market is flooded with imported options, many of them produced quickly and cheaply, and I think it is worth being clear-eyed about what that means for quality. There is a meaningful difference between tie makers who are essentially assembling a product to a price point, and tie manufacturers who are genuinely invested in the material decisions, the construction standards, and the longevity of what they produce. That distinction is one I feel strongly about.

One could say that the entire custom tie industry rests on the expertise of the manufacturers behind it. A beautiful design counts for very little if the fabric is thin, the lining is poor, or the construction pulls apart after a season's worth of wear. The best custom ties are the result of an ongoing conversation between the client's vision and the manufacturer's knowledge — a knowledge that encompasses fibre selection, weave structure, colour accuracy, and the subtle engineering that makes a tie hang and knot correctly.

What I believe we are seeing now, both in South Africa and internationally, is a genuine renewed appreciation for that craft. After years of casualisation in the workplace, there is a growing recognition that the quality tie still has a role to play — in schools, in boardrooms, in ceremonial contexts. For tie manufacturers who have maintained their standards through the lean years, that is a very encouraging thing to witness.