A Cornish outdoor clothing company is heading to London’s Saville Row next month with a flock of sheep in tow.
It is all part of the British Wool Week (October 11-17) celebrations, a week-long promotion from the Campaign for Wool, which was launched at the beginning of the year by Prince Charles, who had become concerned at the plight of sheep farmers, struggling to make ends meet due to the low prices they were receiving for their fleeces.
St Agnes-based Finisterre uses a high proportion of Merino wool in its range, which it currently buys from Australia and New Zealand. But in an attempt to reduce its global footprint, the company has sought to source the wool closer to home while at the same time re-injecting some life back into the British wool market.
Consequently, Finisterre has backed a breeding programme in Devon for one of the rarest sheep breeds in the world – the British Bowmont, which is the only breed in the UK with the potential to create a fibre capable of matching the fineness of Merino.
And it will be taking these sheep up to London to show them off to Saville Row’s tailors.
