Scapa Sports Men

Fifty years ago, when Arlette Van Oost's plane en route to the Shetland Islands had to make an emergency landing on the island of Orkney due to a snowstorm, she promptly lost her heart to nature, knitters and the beautiful bay, the Scapa Flow. The beginning of a successful Belgian fashion story. Sabato returned to Orkney with Van Oost: to the bay, to nature and to the knitters. 'Nostalgia, however, is not for me.'

In 1968 the first, finished sweater under the name 'Scapa of Scotland' left the island for Miss Poly boutique in Knokke. 'From the beginning, the sweaters knew great success with the Belgian public,' Van Oost said. 'That wool quality and Scottish style in colors and patterns was something you couldn't find anywhere else.' That rural British-tinged style would remain Scapa's trademark for 50 years, albeit always in a contemporary version. 'Especially in Italy and Japan, people are fans of the English style we use.'