Makepiece Foxglove dress

Sheep farming in Britain, from the Lake District to the Yorkshire Dales has shaped the British countryside.

The industrial revolution was founded on fabric and wool produced from sheep. Our fabrics and wool have influenced fashion and kept us warm; from Harris Tweed, beloved by designers all over the world, to the wool used for traditional fisherman’s jumpers.

But in Britain, the love of cheap, fast fashion produced from imported wool and synthetic fibres, have helped speed the decline of our wool production.

Around 80 per cent of the wool worn and used in Britain is imported. This has caused huge problems for our national wool industry. British wool and textiles have lost their appeal and the once highly regarded traditional fabrics have been replaced by imported counterparts. Add to this, outbreaks of Foot and Mouth and Blue Tongue and it is easy to understand why the British Wool industry is struggling.

When I read that some farmers have burnt fleeces instead of selling them, I decided to investigate the issue.

I met Beate Kubtiz, Director of Makepiece.co.uk, and sheep farmer, at the Daisy Green Ethical Extravaganza. She gave a thought provoking speech on ethical fashion to a captive audience.

Beate is well placed to do so. As one half of the team behind Makepiece who create beautiful clothes from home grown wool, we talked passionately about the pressures facing sheep farmers and what the future holds for British wool.

Do farmers really burn their fleeces and why?

It’s a difficult issue. They are really not supposed to but there have been years when the wool sold for very little, particularly hill breeds. For example when Herdwick was 2p per kilo, you’d probably get 6-10p per fleece. Shearing a sheep cost £1-£2. So some farmers were reluctant to send it to the British Wool Marketing Board, as they would also have to pay transport costs.
I don’t know any farmers who burnt their wool. Where we are, the sheep are Swaledales and Gritstones in the main, and these breeds commanded a little more. The wool price has gone up and down, but it’s generally better now.

Why do you do what you do?

Wool is a sustainable fibre, particularly in the UK. We’ve been farming sheep for centuries and achieved largely in balance with the landscape. It’s a bi-product of food, which means that you’re not using land that could be used for food production for the textile.

Wool has great properties for clothing from silky lustrous Longwools to soft fuzzy Shetland for felting and it can be spun and dyed in many ways enabling us to create a variety of different knits.

And of course, it’s biodegradable at the end of its life.

Do you think there is a future for British wool?

Definitely. There are masses of uses for this sustainable fibre – besides fashion of course. Wool carpets, futon fillings, loft insulation and other insulation are some examples. Wool has amazing properties: it breathes, it resists microbes, it’s insulating and it can hold up to 20 per cent of its own weight in water without feeling damp.

We use fine wools – Bluefaced Leicester and our own Shetland in our Makepiece garments. More farmers are concentrating on the value of wool now, reversing a trend previously largely ignored – because of the low value of the wool.

There are British merinos and merino crosses who have adapted to our weather, which will produce some interesting yarns. There are also Angora goat and alpaca farmers who have been concentrating on fibre for several years in parallel to sheep wool.

Will wool ever be reinstated as a mainstream fabric in the way it used to be?

It’s hard to tell what’s going to happen. For a while wool was ignored in favour of synthetic fibres and cotton. Wool is making a come-back as a performance fibre in sportswear. People are less inclined to value synthetic fibres and so wool is being taken more seriously in fashion.

I think that people are very dependent on high use garments being machine washable. Wool that’s been superwash treated (this is a process which makes it survive the washing machine) has a really widescale application.

Beate kindly pointed me in the direction of the British Wool Marketing Board who were very helpful. The sale of wool is channelled through the Board who told me that they work together with farmers to get them the best price possible. They also work alongside the textile industry to promote British wool and safeguard quality.

We discussed the challenges faced by sheep farmers and the issue of burning fleeces. The gentleman I spoke to at the Board said that it would make no economic sense to burn fleeces. In today’s market, the price of wool is between 37p and 58p per kilogram but this has not always been the case. Disease has hit sheep numbers and it will take time to build flocks again

The number of craftsmen involved in the process of wool has decreased in the last 20 years. In Scotland the Harris Tweed industry is suffering. This month it was announced that Kenneth McKenzie Mill in Stornaway would close for a year.

So what is the future for British Wool production? Appeals have been made to the Scottish Government for help to preserve the Harris Tweed industry. On the island of Lewis two new companies have started to produce fabrics and are busy meeting orders from all over the world.

But there is some encouraging news; Makepiece continues to produce its beautiful clothing and the results speak for themselves. Izzy Lane, the label run by Isobel Davis, the  vegetarian sheep farmer and designer, produce woollen clothing that is highly sought after around the world.

Ada Zanditon an award-winning designer who produces amazing, high-end fashion all manufactured ethically. Ada is keen to promote and support traditional crafts. In her autumn/winter ‘09 collection, she uses Hebridean sheep wool. This is then transported and transformed into the most beautiful fabric in Gloucestershire.

The future is uncertain for British wool, partly due to economic factors and huge volume of imports. If fashion changes and we embrace higher quality products and we start to see the value of craftsmanship, British wool will survive.

There is a choice to be made, buying British wool will lower your carbon footprint and help safeguard the countryside for all of us. It will also help save some of the traditional craftsmanship that is in danger of being lost forever. And the clothes are great.

Buy British.