Great British Wool: Reimagining Luxury Fashion
A RESEARCH COLLABORATION WITH THE GREAT BRITISH WOOL REVIVAL AND IML MA FASHION DESIGN STUDENTS.
This collaborative project with The Great British Wool Revival aims to assess MA Fashion Design students’ responses to working within very specific material limits: British wool. It maps the challenges that young designers face in sourcing British wool with clear local provenance, how these were overcome, the impacts of their learning and their practice as designers, and the potential of locally-contextualised pedagogical strategies in supporting the preservation and revival of cultural heritage.
Information gathered through this project will inform curriculum development, and shared widely to support stakeholders in the local wool value chain. The requirement to work within strict material limits is expected to improve learners’ tenacity, problem solving skills, and creative resourcefulness - key 21st century life skills that are transferrable beyond fashion design.
Craft and material provenance are at the centre of this project - reflecting Satish Kumar’s BUD approach: garments designed and made must be Beautiful, Useful, and Durable.
The Great British Wool: Reimagining Luxury Fashion project is directly linked to IML’s Radically Local research project, demonstrating how our research activities continue to inform student experience, learning, and teaching.
Selected outcomes from the project will be exhibited in an exhibition at Dumfries House in May 2026, to accompany a wool symposium organised by The Great British Wool Revival.
PROJECT TIMELINE AND ACTIVITIES
The Great British Wool: Reimagining Luxury Fashion project was devised following feedback in 23 interviews with local wool stakeholders, including farmers, textile mill workers, wool processors, and independent designers for the Radically Local research project. These revealed the need for fashion students to gain a better understanding of how to source and work with wool, specifically, as well to be able to think more holistically and resourcefully as designers.
The brief required students to engage critically and creatively with the legacy, materiality, and future potentialities of British wool. Rooted in provenance, historical archives and artisanship, the project asked students to question and reimagine alternative forms of luxury within their own contemporary and future facing design practice.
British wool carries a deep cultural narrative: from regional sheep breeds, long-standing spinning and knitting traditions, to specialist artisans who sustain centuries-old knowledge, wool is rooted in identity and craft legacy. As responsible sourcing and regenerative cycles begin to shape new systems in the future of luxury, wool’s status as a culturally symbolic and environmentally responsible fibre has found renewed significance.
Students were asked to interrogate and engage with British wool’s historical symbolism, while exploring its capacity to shape a postgrowth fashion landscapes. They were offered a choice of 2 outcomes for this project, depending on their interests, experience and curiosity, and could choose from either choose tailoring, or knit for a final artisanal sample piece, or a combination of these.
WORK IN PROGRESS TUTORIALS
with Harriet Fletcher-Gilhuys from The Great British Wool Revival
