From regenerative futures to wool innovation: Great British Wool Revival wraps up inaugural summit

When establishing the Great British Wool Revival, founder and CEO of Fashion Roundtable Tamara Cincik sought to restore the connection between farming and design. The launch of an associated summit looked to boost this mission, which Cincik felt had been achieved over the duration of the two-day event.

The inaugural edition took place between May 19 and 20 at Dumfries House, the headquarters of the event’s collaborative partner The King’s Foundation, His Majesty The King’s flagship sustainability charity. It was the “first clip-to-consumer event of its kind”, Cincik explained, “bringing the entire value chain from farmers to designers under one roof”.

The summit opened with a dedicated Education Day, allowing students, academics and emerging talent to contribute to conversations about textile innovation, circularity and craft preservation. This was followed by an Industry Day, during which key industry figures from across fashion and wool addressed challenges and opportunities facing the material’s production in the UK.

Its launch comes a decade on from the signing of the Dumfries House Wool Declaration, a ten-point agreement that aimed to protect sheep welfare, ensure environmental sustainability, and support the global wool industry. Over this period, a slew of policymakers like Cincik and other organisations have increased efforts to revive the local wool industry and restore perception around the material in the push for localisation.

In a statement, Ashleigh Douglas, future textiles manager for The King’s Foundation at Dumfries House, said the summit “has decisively cemented the close collaboration between farmers and the fashion industry that is key to British wool’s long-term, sustainable future”. “The innovative two-part summit, including the ‘clip-to-consumer’ Industry Day, brought the entire value chain together, setting a clear path to sustain the momentum created by wool’s recent ten-year high in price,” Douglas continued.

Whether there will be a second summit is yet to be confirmed. However, in an earlier conversation with FashionUnited, textiles researcher for the Fashion Roundtable, Harriet Fletcher-Gilhuys, said “the aim is for the event to influence thought-provoking, ongoing conversation–not stands as a one-off event”.