FIRST LOOK - LOVE EWE BY HIGHLAND & HERRINGBONE

You may have seen on our website/social media that we have been working on a brand new, exciting collection over the past few months. With things starting to come together, I thought now would be the perfect time to go into detail about why we have decided to make a change and what you can expect to see from the new collection!

Love Ewe, by Highland & Herringbone, is a collection of garments made from 100% natural fibres and accessories; designed, developed and manufactured right here in Leicestershire, UK. One of our core values from the start has been manufacturing in Great Britain, however we felt that we needed to step up the sustainability aspect of our brand, and the most obvious way to do this was changing the yarn base we use in our knitwear. For two years now, Highland & Herringbone pieces have been manufactured from a combed cotton/acrylic blend, although being a very soft yarn and excellent for washing, this blend of yarn isn't the most sustainable option when it comes to garment composition. With this in mind, we made the decision to create a collection of pieces that are made from 100% lambswool. The lambswool yarn we will be using in our Love Ewe collection is spun from fleece to yarn in a mill in Denby Dale, Yorkshire. 

So, why lambswool?

Let's start with what it is? Lambswool is the wool taken from the very first shearing of a lamb, often around the age of 7 months. This means the staple of the wool is around 50mm long, which is quite short in comparison to other wool types. Wool with a staple length of around 50mm is classed as 'next to skin' wool, as it is the best wool type for garments that will be touching the skin. Other wool types can often feel very rough and irritating to the skin. There are many benefits when it comes to producing garments from lambswool over cotton/acrylic yarns. Lambswool has no detrimental effects on the environment; being a natural yarn, it is compostable and biodegradable (naturally decomposing in soil to release precious nutrients). It can also be recycled into new products. Sheep grow back their fleece annually and it is essential for it to be shorn every year, otherwise the sheep risks dying of heat exhaustion in the warmer seasons. 

Some of the best features of a wearing a lambswool garment include:

• Lambswool is the softest wool to come from a sheep making it extremely cushioned and soft to touch.
• Lambswool does not hold odours so does not need to be washed as regularly as garments made from other synthetics.
• All wool is naturally water-repellent and moisture-wicking. A woollen garment can absorb one-third of its weight without becoming wet; this comes from the outer layer of the wool fibre.
• Lambswool is naturally hypoallergenic and resistant to dust mites meaning its often preferred by those who have allergies.
• Like all wool, lambswool is breathable, whilst also being a natural insulator because of the natural crimp meaning the fibres do not lay flat against each other which creates small air pockets that can trap and release heat.

What can you expect to see in the new collection?

Kicking the collection off we have two beautiful jumper designs along with a very exciting autumn/winter accessory, that will be a completely new product for Highland & Herringbone. Out of a selection of over one hundred colours, we have hand selected the very best three to launch the collection with - this had to have been the hardest part of the process so far! 

Love Ewe is set to launch before Christmas 2022 (all going as planned, the launch date will be early to mid December!) Keep an eye on our Facebook and Instagram pages (@highlandandherringbone) for some sneak previews of the collection!

If you have any questions about Love Ewe, please get in touch on info@highlandandherringbone.co.uk or head to the contact us page.

Charlotte x