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@herdwear

@herdwear

herd-knitwear-founder-interview-editorial-scroll-image

@herdwear

 

We love that you have already co-founded another sustainable business, Atlantic Kitchen. What inspired you to move from the food industry towards textiles? 

I care deeply about food and its provenance and process, and so I loved getting under the skin of the food industry with Atlantic Kitchen. It was my first business and I learnt a lot about running a business marketing and brand. I created a local supply chain with minimal treatments that benefitted the growers so there is lots of crossover with HERD. The food industry is so far ahead of the fashion industry in terms of the information available to customers, the traceability, certifications and understanding of provenance, and as I went deeper into that world I became frustrated with what was available in clothing. While living in California I became aware of the Fibreshed movement as a blueprint for a harmonious future fashion industry and, as I felt deeply connected to wool – being a hand-knitter – decided to create a knitwear brand using the dormant British wool supply chain that had none of the waste, transportation, pollution and exploitation of the mainstream industry. 

 

Have you always been passionate about sustainability? If so, where is this routed back to?

From childhood I always wanted to make a difference. It took me a while to figure out how I could do that in a way that lent itself to my skills and when I fell into entrepreneurship I knew I’d found the route! I love being outdoors and travelling and feel lucky to have travelled independently to many unspoilt places in my life. An early dive into yoga gave me a powerful channel to that connection. I think when you care about and feel a part of nature you can’t help but bring this into one’s life, it’s fundamental to my being so is the way I approach everything – from how I raise my children to business, to home life. 

 

 

 

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Fashion, Fleetwood Cardigan in Ecru with Shrimp & Peat, £595

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Fashion, Ingleton Gilet in Ecru & Anthracite Stripe, £325

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We love that your supply chain process is entirely traceable. What made you choose Northern England to base HERD knitwear around?

Britain has a long history – thousands of years – of sheep farming, and the supply of wool around the world was the engine of the British Empire in its time, bringing massive revenues into the country and shaping the cities and rural life of the nation. Crazy to think of this now, when wool is being burnt or buried as waste! The North of England especially with the hilly landscape, plenty of rain and rich green grass was perfect for grazing and our Bluefaced Leicester breed is native to the area. Around this sheep farming grew a huge industry in Yorkshire with hundreds of factories involved in the grading, scouring, dyeing and spinning of the wool. Britain was at the apex of the wool industry – with the raw materials, machinery and know-how to make the finest yarn and cloth in the world. A very small cross-section of that industry still exists although most has been offshored to cheaper labour economies and bigger factories, causing carbon emissions, pollution and exploitation along the way. HERD was born to champion the skills and craftsmanship in Northern England by reimagining the heritage wool supply chain for the modern day.

 

What are the main values HERD as a brand stands for? And how do you communicate these values so that customers feel a sense of connection to HERD? 

HERD is ultimately about connection, from livestock farming, to plant dyes to customers and their own sustainability journeys. We act as a conduit between the stories. We tell the stories visually – by capturing the farms and factories from soil to skin and by shooting our campaigns entirely authentically on location along the knitwear supply chain. Taking a photography team to the scouring and combing factory was quite an eye-opener for everyone – these places are not commonly visited by the fashion industry! 

Our USPs are: 

  • We make our own materials from soil to skin
  • Everything we make is chemical-free, using organic detergents, plant dyes and naturally occurring mordants 
  • Everything is made within the same country, often the same region, as close to the farms as possible 
  • We have a farm focus. We work with over 40 farms in England, and are working to help them farm holistically. 

 

What are some of the challenges you’ve faced in establishing HERD and its production process, and how have you had to adapt?

It’s always hard doing something no-one else is doing! We experienced challenges at start-up and are now experiencing different challenges as we scale up.  It is an ever-shifting landscape as our partners scale up or down, introduce new capacities and change their own business models. The most challenging part of our process is the dyeing, as we are committed to natural processing which means plant dyes. There was no existing capacity for industrial, scaleable plant dyeing in the UK (or most of the world) so we have had to create those recipes from scratch with a dye house partner. As it is so new and untested there is plenty of trial and error, which we can often pivot and find a use for but requires yet more development!

 

 

 

herd-knitwear-founder-interview-editorial-landscape-image

Fashion, Ingleton Gilet in Mist, £325

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Fashion, Fleetwood Cardigan in Moss with Ecru & Peat, £595

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Can you share any innovative techniques or materials that you’ve adopted to minimise waste and reduce your brand’s carbon footprint?

  • The average merino supply chain is over 18,000 miles, involving multiple different countries for different processes. Ours is less than 300, so there is a significant reduction in carbon footprint for the miles travelled.
  • Most of our factory partners already have various secondary processes to minimise waste, for example both our scouring and dyeing plants have their own in-house water cleaning plants so that nothing toxic goes into the mains water system. 
  • Sheep fleece is also rich in lanolin which is a natural balm used widely across the cosmetics industry, this is collected after the cleaning of the fleece. Another waste stream that is reused is the ‘dags’, the discoloured bits of the fleece which go into fertiliser.  

 

Which is your favourite piece from your collection, and why? 

My favourite piece from our AW23 Collection is the Fleetwood Jumper, for which we drew on the heritage of yoked fairisle jumpers, but with a modern twist. The inspiration for the design is the layered landscape of the Northern Uplands, with the hills and dales, drystone walls, tree line and streams trickling into rivers. The shape is beautifully flattering and the style has been much loved by industry and customers.

 

Do you have any styling tips for your audience and how they can incorporate HERD into their wardrobe all year round, and not just in the colder months?

Most of the year in the UK one can’t be too far from a jumper, even in summer for the evenings. We use pointelle knitting techniques to create lighter collections like the Wyre which can be worn all year around and look gorgeous over dresses to extend the spring/summer wardrobe. I love to play with proportions, a chunky, slightly oversized knit like the Fleetwood over a slim skirt or fitted jeans, and key layering pieces like the Ingleton Gilet which is always slung over the back of my chair at work for when I get chilly or want to step out for some fresh air.

 

 

 

herd-knitwear-founder-interview-editorial-landscape-image

Fashion, Fleetwood Jumper In Ecru with Shrimp & Peat, £495

Shop Now

Fashion, Fleetwood Jumper In Moss with Ecru & Peat, £495

Shop Now

Can you share any long-term goals or aspirations for HERD regarding sustainability and its impact on the environment or society?

There is so much untapped potential in the wool industry to expand into other breeds and materials made from wool, so I’m excited about supporting more factories to develop these.

Fundamentally the reason I started HERD was to support farmers in their transition to regenerative agriculture and so prove that regenerative fashion is possible, that we can rebuild the ecosystems and communities around us by growing and making clothes, so my ambition is to grow a farming community that is rebuilding soil health and diversity across multiple natural raw materials.

What advice would you give to other aspiring designers looking to establish a sustainable brand?

Start with the material. Ask the questions, go deep into the supply chain and don’t stop asking until you have all the answers!

 

And finally, how would you encourage your audience to live a more conscious, sustainable lifestyle?

Spend as much time as possible in nature – in the wind, rain, snow, sleet and sunshine. All the answers are there.

Shop HERD's New Arrivals

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herd-knitwear-fleetwood-jumper-in-moss-with-ecru-and-peat-product-image
HERD
Fleetwood Jumper In Moss with Ecru & Peat
£495
herd-knitwear-fleetwood-jumper-in-ecru-with-shrimp-and-peat-product-image
HERD
Fleetwood Jumper In Ecru with Shrimp & Peat
£495
herd-knitwear-fleetwood-cardigan-in-moss-with-ecru-and-peat-product-image
HERD
Fleetwood Cardigan in Moss with Ecru & Peat
£595
herd-knitwear-fleetwood-cardigan-in-ecru-with-shrimp-and-peat-product-image
HERD
Fleetwood Cardigan in Ecru with Shrimp & Peat
£595
herd-knitwear-ingleton-cardigan-in-lemon-product-image
HERD
Ingleton Cardigan in Lemon
£295
herd-knitwear-ingleton-jumper-in-ecru-and-anthracite-stripe-product-image
HERD
Ingleton Jumper In Ecru & Anthracite Stripe
£245
herd-knitwear-ingleton-jumper-in-mist-product-image
HERD
Ingleton Jumper In Mist
£245
herd-knitwear-ingleton-jumper-in-yolk-product-image
HERD
Ingleton Jumper in Yolk
£245

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