John Smedley sponsors the Great British Wool Revival

The Great British Wool Revival, launched in 2024 to support the wool industry from farmer to designer, has announced heritage knitwear brand John Smedley as its brand partner and key sponsor.

The initiative, created by the think tank Fashion Roundtable, believes that wool, as an environmentally friendly and locally sourced material, is “perfectly positioned” to play a pivotal role in sustainable and regenerative fashion systems, supporting local economies from rural farmers to designers and businesses of all sizes in the UK.

With more than 200 companies joining to date, The Great British Wool Revival aims to support increasing the uptake of British wool, and John Smedley, one of the oldest knitwear manufacturers in the world, is teaming up with the organisation to “champion British wool”.

Commenting on the new partnership, Jess Mcguire-Dudley, managing director John Smedley said in a statement: “For over 10 years since I first joined the John Smedley company, we have been championing British wools across our collections, and since that time our use of British wools has grown by over 50 percent, I am delighted that one of my first acts as managing director is to further our support for this wonderful fibre by partnering with The Great British Wool Revival to ensure the tools they are creating can continue to support the wider industry.

“We saw how much our offer to support brands with British manufacturing by opening up our third-party manufacturing resonated, and I would urge these brands now also look to British wools to create truly trace-able collections full of provenance. Together we can hope to re-build the wonderful traditions and crafts of the UK by supporting the many artisans across farm, spinning, design, manufacturing and many other areas.”

The collaboration across this year and next will see the platforming of British wools across a range of educational, marketing, community and industry projects. This will include working alongside Derby Museums for John Smedley’s ‘Sustainable School Uniform Project,’ which aims to educate the next generation on the benefits of British wool, allowing students to create the school jumper of the future.

Additionally, the winter campaign will showcase the capabilities of British wool across both commercial machine-knitted products and hand-knitted yarn and one-off pieces to engage audiences “with the textile and the stories of the farmers, spinners and knitters within these processes”. John Smedley will also be making its yarns and knitting patterns available to consumers for the first time to allow them to craft their own sustainable sweater.

Then in spring 2026, John Smedley and the Great British Wool Revival will come together for the UK Wool Conference in association with The King’s Foundation “to address the current challenges and potential opportunities for British wool, with the view to provide more brands with support in developing collections with British wool from AW26”.

Tamara Cincik, founder of Fashion Roundtable, added: “The Great British Wool Revival is a timely initiative, which we at Fashion Roundtable created to plug a systems gap from farm to designer and industry. This supported the fantastic Modern Artisans Programme for the Kings Foundation and aligns with our shared values of provenance, local supply chains, textile craft and best of British.

“We are delighted to be partnering with John Smedley to continue this important and timely work, particularly as The Great British Wool Revival grows from strength to strength, as more businesses see the benefits of using local supply chains, regenerative practices and of course in championing British wool. The Great British Wool Revival is a true innovator, and we can’t wait to share our next steps alongside John Smedley with you all.”