Photo: Mimi Berry
Wool, wool, wonderful wool. British Wool Month is in full swing so let’s take a moment to appreciate this marvellous 100% natural fibre. Renewable, biodegradable, antibacterial, resilient and breathable – is there another material that can match its properties? Best known as an insulator, wool’s crimped fibres help to create air pockets within a fabric and reduce the conduction of heat, keeping the wearer warm and cosy. Woollen clothes hold their shape because of the springiness of this wavy fibre, if you hang a wool jacket up while you take a shower the creases will simply drop out. And importantly, wool is natural and sustainable; with grass to graze on sheep will grow new fleece, every year.
The Campaign for Wool has created a list of events and pop-up activities organised for Wool Month 2024. And, here are five British brands who make brilliant knitwear:
The Bigby Gilet from Charl
Frankie Davies previously designed knitwear collections for Studio Nicholson, Burberry and Benetton before founding her own sustainable knitwear company in 2020. Named Charl, after her sister Charlotte. Growing up near the Norfolk coast, she was inspired by fishermen’s Gansey jumpers of the late 19th and early 20th century, hand-knitted by their wives and daughters on circular needles. And so set out to honour these traditional designs while reworking the construction and stitch-type to create modern knitwear
‘I love the quality of British wool – you can feel it when you touch it – it’s rich and vibrant,’ Frankie says,’ I also love knowing that it has a story behind it, that it has been used and cherished for hundreds of years and that I am keeping this culture alive.’
Charl wool is either certified British, or authentic Shetland, which is spun, dyed and processed in Yorkshire. Then, the collection is knitted by carefully selected, small-scale factories: one in Nottinghamshire and the other in Perugia, Italy.
Rove’s patchwork socks
I first spotted Rove’s super-cool socks in a local boutique. The knitwear collection also includes unisex accessories (hats, gloves and scarves), jumpers, vests and blankets. Founder Rose Boycott-Brown started her career as an intern for several different designers, including Nicole Farhi – and then ended up working for a design studio supplying the high street. Alarmed by the levels of mass production, and the use of synthetic fibres to make her designs, in 2013 she launched her own knitwear label.
All ROVE items are manufactured in Britain using British-spun, ethically sourced wool. Much of the collection is made in small batches at a small family-run factory just outside Manchester. The socks are manufactured in Derbyshire, in a factory that has been knitting socks for over 100 years. And, I’ve just read that one year, Emma Thompson bought all of her Christmas presents from ROVE!
Mimi Berry jumper
Mimi Berry
Over the last couple of years, leather accessories label (and TNMA favourite) Mimi Berry has ventured into womenswear with a small knitwear edit. ‘ The jumpers had to be made with the same ethos as our accessories,’ Mimi tells me, ‘ Both vegetable tan leather and wool are naturally-grown materials, and have sound ecological heritage; so selling both made a lot of sense’. The knitted jumpers are all made by a family-run mill in Scotland (established in 1929), using the latest technology to knit seamless jumpers and minimise yarn waste.
Styles include crew, polo and mock turtle-neck jumpers and cashmere-blend neckerchiefs. ‘This is our third season of jumpers, and the first for the cashmere scarves and I think the colours and styles of their yarn really compliment the styles and feel of our bags,’ adds Mimi, ‘I absolutely love them, and would never sell a jumper or scarf I wouldn’t wear myself!’
The Kate Jones neck warmer.
Kate Jones Knitwear
You may recognise this beautiful, lambswool neck warmer from Kate Jones knitwear. There are still a few available from the TNMA Edit. Kate is another brilliant knitwear designer and keen environmentalist, who creates accessories for men and women, from her studio in Margate. ‘I love using wool as it is a 100% natural, biodegradable and renewable resource, so is planet friendly and will leave no detrimental effect on the environment,’ she tells me. ‘The yarn I use is spun and dyed at a family run mill in Yorkshire, which has been operating since 1766. They are members of Woolmark.’
Photo: Oubas
As someone who went on a family holiday to the Lake District practically every summer as a child, I’m pleased to give a Cumbrian-based knitwear company a mention. OUBAS knits are all designed and made in Ulverston; inspired by the beautiful, surrounding landscape and the glorious colours found in nature. Launched in 2012, by knitwear-lover and sustainability advocate Kate Stalker, the company name comes from ‘Oubas Hill’, the area in the Lake District where she grew up. ‘By striving to create pieces that are beautiful and valued, we are helping to ensure that something gets worn time after time and year after year,’ Kate told the sustainable style website Gather & See (who stock her knitwear) , ‘Thereby we are ensuring that all of the time and resources that go into each garment are really worth it.’
Other TNMA favourites:
Community Clothing, &Daughter, Jo Gordon, Johnstons of Elgin, Herd knitwear, Peregrine, Sheep Inc, Genevieve Sweeney, Quinton + Chadwick, Wallace Sewell.
Even more knit-picks here:
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