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Ethical fashion is trending right now. Today, more and more of us are asking what impact our clothes have on people and on the planet. There’s a growing market for clothes with a conscience – whether that’s up-cycled, organic, natural or Fairtrade. ‘Buy less, care more’ is becoming the green fashionista’s mantra.

A driving force in this is Fashion Revolution – a global movement for ethical and sustainable fashion. Self-styled ‘pro-fashion protestors’, Fashion Revolution celebrate fashion as a positive influence while also scrutinising industry practices and raising awareness of pressing issues.

Today we’re joining them in marking the start of Fashion Revolution Week. The Week falls on the anniversary of the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh, which killed 1138 people and injured many more in 2013. All round the globe people will be asking brands #whomademyclothes and demanding greater transparency in the fashion supply chain.

Our ethical commitment

From a renewable raw material to pedal-powered production, at Skye Weavers we’ve always been committed to making our business as sustainable as possible.

We know #whomademyclothes – it’s us! From warping to sewing, we keep our production processes in-house as far as possible. This means that we know exactly who created each garment, throw, scarf or tweed. It also keeps weaving traditions alive and provides local employment and training. When we do work with partner manufacturers we select them carefully, for example working with social enterprise Kalopsia Collective on our bags and ties.

Keeping it local. We work with suppliers in Scotland, northern England and Wales. From wool mills and finishers to the people who weave our labels, we avoid large-scale faceless corporations even if it means we have to absorb higher manufacturing costs. We often visit these suppliers personally, building up a relationship and developing a satisfying creative partnership.

Wool, naturally. We use a sustainable raw material. Our woolly friends generously grow a new fleece for us each year, making it the ultimate renewable resource. What’s more, wool is biodegradable (not that we expect you to throw away your Skye Weavers garments of course). We even use natural dyes in some of our products, and source some of our wool from local farms on Skye.

Love not landfill. We create high quality products that you will cherish, not chuck away at the end of the season.

Pedal power. Who needs fossil fuels? Our looms are 100% pedal powered!

Go green with your home furnishings!

People have been snapping up our green diamond tweed so fast that unfortunately we’re out of stock. But don’t go green with envy – we’ve been pedalling fast so there’s more on its way. Your can pre-order a length of the tweed here, or sign up to our newsletter if you would like to receive an email when the cushions are available online.

Or if you can’t wait, why not check out our Skye Wool collection for something ultra-local with the minimum of wool miles!

Last year we ran a photo competition looking for inspiration for a new tweed – the Glendale Check. Glendale is a small village in the north west of Skye. It is where we are pedalling away on our bicycle pedal-powered loom to create tweed, scarves, throws and more.

After designing the tweed, trying out various options on the sample loom, sourcing the yarn, winding cones, warping and finally weaving, the new tweed is available in our online shop now!

We are using the tweed to make a new range of Glendale Check Cushions. Discover the story behind the cushion:

We recently wove our first tweed using wool from the Glendale Estate’s Cheviot sheep. Last year we bought the hogg wool (the first clip), which we sent off for scouring, carding and spinning. We were really pleased with the yarn and have just finished weaving our first roll of natural white herringbone tweed.

Andrea warping first Glendale tweed

We also sent some of the yarn to Shilasdair Yarns in Waternish, who dyed it naturally with various dye plants. We are currently in the process of finalising the design for a range of throws, and more tweed using these colours. Everything will be available this autumn.

The Glendale Estate was bought by the community at the beginning of the 20th century. Today the estate farm stocks sheep and cattle. We would like to take the opportunity to thank the estate committee and D.A. and Norman, who are looking after the sheep, for helping to get the first Glendale wool processed. We are already looking forward to working with them again this year!

Many people are surprised about the fact that the wool of the many sheep on Skye is normally not used on the island. In the past wool was washed, carded, spun and woven for home use and small scale trade at many crofts. With the industrialisation and economic change this is no longer a viable business opportunity. Wool is now processed by large scouring plants and spinning mills on the mainland or overseas. The mills buy wool in big batches from the Wool Marketing Board. Most of the wool in the UK (and on Skye) is bought by the Wool Marketing Board, who is selling it on behalf of the farmers at international auctions. Skye wool gets mixed up with wool from elsewhere. This is why we are so happy to be working with 100% Skye wool now.

Roger mending Glendale tweed

Before we moved to Skye, we lived and worked at Ardalanish, a remarkable farm and weaving mill on the Isle of Mull. The Ardalanish Mill was one of the pioneers in getting wool from their own sheep spun and we were truly inspired by the process of turning a home grown sheeps’ fleeces into a finished products. After we set up our own business on Skye, we wanted to continue in that ethos and have now managed to use our first batch of local wool.

Skye Weavers team:  excited to be working with locally sourced wool.

It is great to see other businesses popping up everywhere, who are using local resources. A very inspiring business on Skye, who is using home grown brown wool for their beautiful knitting, is Island at the Edge in Edinbane. And there are quite a few more textile places on Skye, so come and weave your way around the island to discover it all!

Do you know who made your clothes? Since the Rana Plaza tragedy in Bangladesh this question has entered public discussion. How can it be that our clothes are so cheap? An increasing number of retailers are trying to source garments sewn by workers who are paid properly and work under safe conditions, but in the end it is us, the consumers, who make it happen. If there is a demand for ethical fashion, there will be somebody to fulfil it.

Ethical fashion starts with transparency of the supply chain. So check your label before buying, and ask “Who made my clothes?” For more information on ethical fashion, manufacturing and sustainable production visit Fashion Revolution. You can help create a more sustainable future for the clothing industry!

Our ties are of course far from essential in terms of clothing, but we are still proud to have them made in this country! The yarn was spun in the North of England, the tweed woven by us on the Isle of Skye, and the sewing done by a social enterprise in Edinburgh. Have a look at production from yarn to tie here!

Kalopsia is a social enterprise specialising in micro-manufacturing of textile products in Leith, Edinburgh. We met them at the opening night of their Assemble Range, where they introduced a range of tried and tested products they make up to order in any fabric. Their vision with Assemble is to create a more efficient textiles production service, help reduce waste, get accurate fabric estimations as well a quick turn around time and reduced carbon emission.

Our ties are part of that range. The pattern has been adjusted to work perfectly with our tweeds and they are sewn to last a long time. We’re proud to introduce our new collection! Made in Scotland.

Many thanks to Susan Castillo for her excellent photography!