Regenerating British Wool
Regenerating British Wool:
A Fashion Roundtable Programme
Why Wool Matters
Fashion Roundtable have spoken to stakeholders within every facet of the current wool supply chain across the UK. From farmers, to mills, to designers, they all share a passion to reinvigorate the use of British wool, which comes with an equal measure of despair at the lack of economic resilience that rural economies are faced with. This in combination with a growing desire by designers to localise their supply chains, onshore their production and work in a more regenerative, circular system, makes a strong case for British wool.
Evidence from our Cleaning up Fashion Report, suggests that supporting local jobs, communities and developing skills are essential in achieving a sustainable fashion sector. Make It British reported an 83% increase in brands looking to onshore their production in the UK. Meanwhile, Wales has seen a number of closures of mills, leaving just 5 in the entire country.
There are around 30,000,000 sheep in the UK, however this represents only 1% of the global fibre market. Lower costs in labour and differing environmental regulations have resulted in a significant shift in globalising this supply chain, resulting in substantive environmental and economic impacts: a far cry from when wool was grown and processed locally. In 2021, approximately 20.5 million kilograms of wool was exported from the UK while 36.13 kilograms was imported.
The UK leads in the global shift to achieve net zero ambitions, embedding sustainable practice in design and innovation, alongside a rich heritage of craft, skills and workmanship. We believe this wool programme would stem the current practice, where the UK imports more wool than it exports and achieve a series of long-term solutions, supporting each step of the value chain, from farm, to manufacture, from design, to consumer with a more considered and innovative approach.
The result of our qualitative pilot study, led by Meg Pirie, Fashion Roundtable’s Welsh and Slow Fashion Policy Lead, is Fashion Roundtable’s wool programme, in partnership with key nationwide strategic partners united in our ambitions to instil a circular, regenerative and sustainable approach to working with British wool.
The ‘Regenerating British Wool’ Programme aims to support the localising of British wool, to pioneer both cyclical and sustainable ways of working, but also fundamentally in building economic resilience for local communities and the UK’s largely SME and bigger brands fashion and textiles sector.
This is a missed opportunity. British wool has such a diverse range of uses, and is renowned to be one of the best performing, cyclical and ecological fibres.
For further details on this exciting project, please contact Meg Pirie at meg.pirie@fashionroundtable.co.uk
