John Smedley creates 'Cornwall sweater' as part of Campaign for Wool

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Oct 4, 2022

Cornwall is a popular UK holiday destination and its lifestyle has been getting wider exposure through the success of Cornish brand Seasalt. Now Cornwall is also a sweater with John Smedley launching its limited edition Cornwall sweater in partnership with The Campaign for Wool.

The unisex piece is made in the UK using British wool that’s sourced from farming tenants of the Duchy of Cornwall Estate and the sheep that graze its lands across three farms in Cornwall and Devon.

That royal Duchy connection is another key selling point for the brand that also holds two Royal Warrants.

The sweater was released on Monday to coincide with Wool Month, “a celebration of homegrown manufacturing and an ode to England’s age-old farming traditions… repurposed for the modern wardrobe”.

The sweater is a traditional fisherman’s style in natural ecru (it uses undyed yarns “to reflect the natural beauty of British-farmed wool fleeces”).

From farm to finished garment, the sweater, produced in a limited run of 150, has travelled just 300 miles, which feeds into the modern obsession with cutting down on the miles a product has to travel as part of the process to get it to the end user.

“As a result of climate change, every business everywhere is now having to think hard about products and processes they create,” said the company’s MD Ian Maclean. “In our fashion industry we know that materials need to be developed that have a much lower negative impact on the planet. Radically shortening our supply chain, as we are doing for this project, is one way to experiment and develop new ways of thinking.”