Left to right: John Atkinson, Zoe Fletcher and Maria Benjamin.
With the shared goal of putting value back into the British wool industry, Maria Benjamin, John Atkinson and Zoe Fletcher have joined forces to create The Wool Library, an initiative which not only aims to educate the consumer and the UK's fashion industry about the value of British wool but aims to preserve its provenance and the sheep farmers and the sheep breeds which create it.
With backgrounds in art, farming and fashion, the trio are perfectly positioned to promote the value of British wool and were already utlilising and making wool products before collaborating on The Wool Library together.
John and Maria farm together near Coniston Water in the Lake District, Cumbria, but before joining John on the farm in 2015, Maria lived in London for 12 years after graduating from Goldsmiths University of London, with a masters degree in fine art.
Since moving to the farm, Maria has played a key role in the farm's diversification and ensuring the farm can provide a source of income for them both.
Maria says: "Joining John on the farm I helped a bit, but I was not able to add much value to the business. We both really wanted to be on the farm full time so it became my job to look at ways to increase our profits so we could both be here."
Today, alongside the farm, John and Maria also run an off-grid accommodation business, as well as Maria's soap business, selling homemade soap made from the farm's Jersey cow milk.
The pair became more involved in wool after introducing some rare breed sheep onto the farm.
John says: "Maria wanted some Castlemilk Moorit sheep which are really rare, so we got a few and took about 20 kilos of wool off them to make knitting yarns which is how it all started. This year we will have sent off nearly 10 tonnes of wool away to get processed."
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Maria says as well as using their own wool from the farm, she also started to work with another local farmer's wool, which she made into tweed.
"I was shocked at the price farmers were getting for their wool and it just became a bit of a mission that I wanted to do something about it."
She adds: "I had quite a nice little business, but it was quite small, and it was hard for me to sell knitting wool, simply because I am not a knitter. It became clear if I wanted to grow the wool business, I needed to work with somebody else who had that knowledge."
Zoe and Maria first met when Zoe was giving a talk about her own wool business, The Woolist. With a background in knitwear design, Zoe, who currently lives in Silverdale, Lancashire, began looking at how British wool could be promoted within the fashion industry when completing her PhD on the wool characteristics of the various sheep breeds.
Zoe says: "I did not want my PhD and thesis to be a dusty book on the shelf, so I teamed up with Maria and John to see how it would fit within a real farming landscape."
She adds: "I wanted to see whether I could add value to British native and rare breeds through bridging that gap between what designers and makers want from wool, with the farmers and the people at the forefront breeding those sheep."
After teaming up, the trio first worked with a wool representative who sold yarn to most of the knitwear companies in the UK.
Maria says: "He was putting us in front of brands, but they worked in such a different way that is was really hard to penetrate, they just wanted everything at the cheapest price."
She adds: "It was not really about building relationships, it just felt like we were going to be shafted and so were the farmers, so we started working with smaller brands which felt much more in line with our values."
Zoe says while high street fashion brands want to support farmers and use British wool, the fashion system is not changing, and the conventional fashion system means very fast turn arounds and penny pinching at every point.
"They do not understand how much of a positive change they could make if they slowed down the process and it was not just about getting things for the cheapest price."
She explains trying to introduce British wool into a conventional fashion system which is working two years ahead but still needs the yarns in two weeks, does not work with the finite amount of wool produced each year by the British sheep industry.
"A slight uneasiness crept into all of us thinking that yes we could get British wool into this fashion system, but how long would it be there and was it just going to be a trend?"
Therefore, Zoe says they decided to work with small independent designers who wanted to know the story behind the wool, understood its provenance and were willing to invest in a quality product.
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John says promoting the provenance of British wool is a key part of what himself, Maria and Zoe are trying to achieve with The Wool Library.
"It is vital to get more related to the consumer and I think that is one reason farming is struggling, because our products go through so many different hands before they reach the consumer any provenance is lost. What we are trying to do is build that provenance back."
He adds: "Everything gets homogenised when it goes into the supermarkets or the fashion industry, yet everybody you talk to loves the story about specific breeds, whether you are selling meat or wool keeping that breed identity adds value."
Consequently, a key part of their work as The Wool Library is aimed at educating brands and manufacturers on the value of the various sheep breeds and their wool characteristics.
John says when they first started talking to the wool board, they discovered that all wool is processed as a grade rather than in specific breeds, with several breeds mixed into the same class.
"We told them that they could be losing value, as people do want wool from the rare breeds and they want the story behind it. So, they have actually started changing the way they grade the wool and are keeping some in breed specific lots, which is fantastic."
Zoe explains that how the wool from each breed is used is dependent on the end use, and it is important to understand that there is opportunity for lots of different yarns and not all British wool is used for carpets.
"We can actually produce and gain far more value from having a lot of different avenues for all those different breeds rather than shoving it into a homogenised global commodity."
She says The Wool Library are currently working on two breed specific projects, one of which is working with North Country Cheviot wool from one farm in the highlands. The wool from those farms is made into tweed and tweed throws, with the designs based on Scottish agricultural landscapes.
They are also working with the Portland breed society and are currently processing just over a tonne of Portland wool to be made into knitting yarns, tweed and throws.
"That is quite exciting and will hopefully celebrate these breeds and demonstrate what is possible with them. They can be really proud that their wool has gone into something that has retained that story of the breed," says Zoe.
With so many sheep breeds within the UK, some of which are rare and native, Zoe says it is about utilising each type of wool to its potential. "The beauty of British wool is that there are so many breeds and by tapping into those narratives there are so many opportunities."
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Maria explains The Wool Library uses a short supply chain, where they buy from farmers they know, the wool is then graded by British Wool in Bradford, washed in Bradford, spun and dyed in Huddersfield and then woven in Oldham.
"We know our whole supply chain from the farmer, the sheep, all the way through. When you have got a really long supply chain it is easy to ignore aspects of that supply chain in terms of animal and workers' welfare and that is what keeps those prices low."
Zoe says: "It gives you a bit of responsibility, as when you know those people on that journey you feel responsible for not just looking after your clothing more but how do I wash it or who has been affected by the working conditions making it - you start to join up all the dots."
Ultimately, John, Maria and Zoe all believe that the Wool Library can help to support the UK's sheep farmers and their sheep breeds.
With the fashion world changing and consumers developing a greater interest in the provenance of their clothes, John says getting breed societies to realise the value in their breed's wool products is key.
"If it marketed right, they can actually make a lot more from their wool. Many of them are already doing it in a small way themselves but it is about moving them onto the next stage."
For more information on The Wool Library click here.
