Izzy Lane - Ethical Fashions

Our flock of Wensleydale and Shetland sheep comprise mainly of animals that would have been sent to slaughter for being male, missing a pregnancy, being a little lame, being too small, being too old or having imperfections such as a black spot in a white fleece. We pay equal and better prices to save them. They are living out happy lives in our Sheep Sanctuary. As a longstanding vegetarian I have always been confronted with the argument that sheep would not exist if we didn’t eat them. Izzy Lane hopes to demonstrate an economic model whereby sheep can exist, be valued and have a place in our world without becoming meat. It offers another way. I had been horrified to discover through my work with farmers who supplied my organic home delivery company, farmaround, that many who kept sheep were burning their wool. The price they could sell it for did not even cover the cost of shearing. At the same time, I learned that about 80% of the wool that we use in this country is imported, predominantly from Australia and New Zealand. Our whole economy and the Industrial Revolution was built upon the wool trade. What had gone so drastically wrong ? When I began my research in 2002 and saved my first 4 ‘butcher lambs’, I also discovered that our textile industry was on its knees. We are using the last of 51 worsted spinners and one of the last dyers in the Bradford area. Our cloth is woven at an ancient mill in Selkirk using Victorian machinery that has been operating for over a hundred years. Our knitwear is made with the lustrous, kemp-free fleece of the Wensleydale sheep, an endangered breed, numbering around 1800 in the world. Our dresses, skirts and jackets are made from the super-fine fleece of the rare and primitive Shetland sheep, used undyed in their beautiful natural colours. Our luxurious cashmere garments are made from the fibre of Scottish cashmere goats. Most cashmere fibre is imported from Asia. The annual production in Scotland is only 100 kilos each year. The goats are lovingly cared for in Kelso in the Borders. We know the full provenance and authenticity of each garment since we have taken it from the fleece through the whole manufacturing process to the garment itself. I hope there is something that is of interest to you. Isobel Davies Founder

http://www.izzylane.com/