Fashion
Sheep Thrills
Ali Schofield talks to Yorkshire designer Isobel Davies about Izzy Lane, true ethical fashion and the network of knitters taking the fashion world by storm
Short of buying your own sheep, having the yarn spun locally and grandmas knit the garments, it seems well nigh impossible to get truly ethical clothes. A sweet idea, undoubtedly, but completely unworkable, right?
Richmond-based entrepreneur Isobel Davies came up with the idea eight years ago and, since then, has worked hard to make it a reality. She now owns some 600 sheep, all saved from imminent slaughter, and thriving online fashion label Izzy Lane, which has won attention from national press and fellow designers up for collaborations.
Having run organic home delivery company Farmaround since 1994 in London, Davies had contact with many farmers who admitted their flocks' wool would sell for such a pittance that they resorted to burning it instead. Despite a wealth of potential industry on our doorstep, the majority of Britain's wool is imported from New Zealand and Australia.
"I thought this was sacrilege and decided that I would start a label using and promoting British wool," Davies says. "After much soul-searching, as a vegetarian I quickly realised that I just couldn't use wool from animals which were going to slaughter. I discovered that most lambswool is shaved from the carcasses of dead lambs.
"I decided that my only way forward would be to rescue my own flock."
By 2002 she had returned from London and found a large flock of Wensleydale sheep - a rare breed which boasts lustrous long wool - in Stoke on Trent, buying four lambs which were due for the abattoir. She approached local one-time farmer Ernest Ayre who agreed to rent his subsequent land and become a shepherd to the then tiny flock, swiftly becoming vegetarian in the process. Not everyone was so open to Davies' optimistic business model in the beginning, though; a Richmond trust turned down her proposal to rent grazing land.
"In this traditional farming area they didn't 'get' the idea of keeping sheep for their wool and allowing them to live out their lives. Despite my insistence that I would create jobs in the local community and put Richmond on the map, they rejected it. I had just arrived from London and I think they thought I was mad.
"I think they have since been surprised by the media interest that Izzy Lane has generated."
In the last couple of years the label, which also offers vegetarian shoes and handbags, has been recognised in several national newspapers and magazines, including [i]Vogue[/i] and enjoyed appearances at London and New York fashion weeks, precipitating a collaborative label with model Lily Cole, The North Circular.
Izzy Lane currently employs some 100 knitters, mostly in North Yorkshire. Isobel says, "Our handknitters have found us through the press and have wanted to knit for us because of our animal-centric ethos and the quality of our fibres. They have some input and often bring along old patterns that they have with beautiful stitches or cables for us to have a look at. Some of our knitters write up the patterns for us.
"They are wonderful women."
For now, in a world of 'fast fashion' and cheap, imported highstreet clobber, Izzy Lane remains unique; a fact Davies is sad to acknowledge.
"Production costs in Britain are higher but as a society we have to see that bigger picture and pay more for our clothes to sustain our own industries and communities. The days of cheap throwaway clothes surely has to end. The planet can't sustain its resources being plundered in such a way and so quickly. It is senseless to ship clothes from the other side of the world one day and chuck them in landfill the next. I think we need to buy less and buy more thoughtfully.
"What we buy and where we buy it from has the power to change the world."
[b]www.izzylane.com[/b]
