The Perfect Sheep?
Last week, while I managed to squeeze in a 70th birthday bash for my Dad (which just so happened to involve sailing around some Ionian Islands off the Greek coast), Nicky headed down to the big city to attend the 4th RITE Conference in Westminster's Central Hall.
RITE (Reducing the Impact of Textiles on the Environment) is a charity which aims to involve as many elements of the textile industry as possible to work together to minimise its impact on the environment.
Photo courtesy of Cornel University Library
It's supported by some of the big players in the market - M&S, Tesco, Nike and Patagonia, some of the smaller guys - Howies and Finisterre, as well as young companies such as Millican and footwear brand, Jinga. Not just for brands, RITE brings together every part of the supply chain - from the farmers producing the raw materials, through to the dye houses and chemical companies, to designers, brands and retailers.
Anyway, I wasn't there so here's what Nicky has to say about it.
"It's always great to step back from daily life and take stock, be inspired and fired up with ideas for change.
That's exactly what happened at the RITE conference last week. OK, so we didn't have the likes of Ghandi or Churchill (who've both spoken in the very elegant Central Hall), but we did hear from some very positive, inspirational, forward thinking people.
Vicky Murray from Forum for the Future took us all skywards with 4 potential scenarios for fashion in 2025 - Techno Chic, Community Couture, Patchwork Planet and Slow is Beautiful.
She stressed that the certainties we're facing are massive climate change, exploding world population and resource shortages. Add alongside these the many uncertainties we also face and we've all got an interesting list of questions to answer together.
Like, how will we all respond to these demands?
How much land will be left to grow textile crops like cotton, with the pressure to use land to feed an ever growing population?
Where will technology take us? When we can already create spray on T-shirts that fit like a glove and can be peeled off, washed and used again? Where will we be with new fabric ideas in another 15 years?
Food for thought ...
Then, from almost galactic thinking, Thomas Podkloinski from Finisterre brought us all back down to earth, in fact back down into a grassy meadow in a sleepy corner of Cornwall.
Thomas's enthusiastic and hilarious description of his years of searching for the perfect sheep had the entire conference captivated.
Finisterre's Bowmont Sheep
The perfect sheep that creates true authentic home grown wool of equal quality to Australian and New Zealand Merino wool. This is a great example of a brand showing real long term commitment to raw material supply, to ensure these rather good looking Bowmont sheep survive and thrive. Great for the sheep and great for Finisterre, who then have the perfect UK wool to use for their outdoor and surf gear.
Wool, by the way, is hot news. Not only is this week National Knitting Week, its also Wool Week, with the launch of The Campaign for Wool, initiated by Prince Charles himself.
Its aims are grand - to put British Wool back on the map with a full-on marketing campaign over the next 5 years. Now, we're pretty keen on the fluffy stuff ourselves, as we've used local Herdwick wool as the perfect natural insulator in Les The Cooler Bag and Derek the drinks cooler.
We're right behind HRH and this campaign, because it offers farmers a better future for their wool, uses a great natural resource and is friendly to the environment as well. That's a win-win for all.
An inspirational week..."
RITE (Reducing the Impact of Textiles on the Environment) is a charity which aims to involve as many elements of the textile industry as possible to work together to minimise its impact on the environment.
Photo courtesy of Cornel University Library
It's supported by some of the big players in the market - M&S, Tesco, Nike and Patagonia, some of the smaller guys - Howies and Finisterre, as well as young companies such as Millican and footwear brand, Jinga. Not just for brands, RITE brings together every part of the supply chain - from the farmers producing the raw materials, through to the dye houses and chemical companies, to designers, brands and retailers.
Anyway, I wasn't there so here's what Nicky has to say about it.
"It's always great to step back from daily life and take stock, be inspired and fired up with ideas for change.
That's exactly what happened at the RITE conference last week. OK, so we didn't have the likes of Ghandi or Churchill (who've both spoken in the very elegant Central Hall), but we did hear from some very positive, inspirational, forward thinking people.
Vicky Murray from Forum for the Future took us all skywards with 4 potential scenarios for fashion in 2025 - Techno Chic, Community Couture, Patchwork Planet and Slow is Beautiful.
She stressed that the certainties we're facing are massive climate change, exploding world population and resource shortages. Add alongside these the many uncertainties we also face and we've all got an interesting list of questions to answer together.
Like, how will we all respond to these demands?
How much land will be left to grow textile crops like cotton, with the pressure to use land to feed an ever growing population?
Where will technology take us? When we can already create spray on T-shirts that fit like a glove and can be peeled off, washed and used again? Where will we be with new fabric ideas in another 15 years?
Food for thought ...
Then, from almost galactic thinking, Thomas Podkloinski from Finisterre brought us all back down to earth, in fact back down into a grassy meadow in a sleepy corner of Cornwall.
Thomas's enthusiastic and hilarious description of his years of searching for the perfect sheep had the entire conference captivated.
Finisterre's Bowmont Sheep
The perfect sheep that creates true authentic home grown wool of equal quality to Australian and New Zealand Merino wool. This is a great example of a brand showing real long term commitment to raw material supply, to ensure these rather good looking Bowmont sheep survive and thrive. Great for the sheep and great for Finisterre, who then have the perfect UK wool to use for their outdoor and surf gear.
Wool, by the way, is hot news. Not only is this week National Knitting Week, its also Wool Week, with the launch of The Campaign for Wool, initiated by Prince Charles himself.
Its aims are grand - to put British Wool back on the map with a full-on marketing campaign over the next 5 years. Now, we're pretty keen on the fluffy stuff ourselves, as we've used local Herdwick wool as the perfect natural insulator in Les The Cooler Bag and Derek the drinks cooler.
We're right behind HRH and this campaign, because it offers farmers a better future for their wool, uses a great natural resource and is friendly to the environment as well. That's a win-win for all.
An inspirational week..."
posted by jorrit at
12:25
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