Slow Fashion, Wool and Textiles Researcher at Fashion Roundtable

Harriet comes from a traditional fashion knitwear background and has a range of skills from sourcing raw fleece, spinning her own wool, natural dyeing and mapping end-to-end supply chains from field to garment. She is perfectly placed to support your supply chain needs with a main focus on best-case practice.

She has launched her own 100% biodegradable collection using British wool (that she sheared and spun herself) and natural dyes that were grown and harvested all made within 150 miles from field to final product. Her masters work from The Royal College of Art focused on British wool systems and analysed both micro and macro supply chain management to determine best-case practise in the UK.

Co-founder of The Wool Library

Zoe has a background in knitwear design and academic research focusing on knit experimentation using natural fibres. After completing her PhD focusing on British sheep breed fleece characteristics for knitwear design, including creating a comparable database for designers to use to utilise more breed-specific and traceable British wool, she wanted to highlight the positive potential connecting regenerative farmers trusted and traceable fibre chains could have within a mindful fashion chain. Designing for breed enables a more conscious and functional way of working with a distinguishable material to suit complex end needs.

Co-founder The Wool Library

Maria Benjamin is a dedicated entrepreneur and advocate for sustainable rural businesses. Based in the Lake District, she runs a diversified farm enterprise that blends traditional farming with innovative ventures, adding value to wool and other natural resources.

As the founder of Lake District Tweed, and co-founder of The Wool Library, Maria has built brands that celebrate British wool and ethical craftsmanship. She brings a creative perspective to farm diversification and rural enterprise, drawing from her background in the creative industries.

Maria played a key role in The Great British Wool Revival project, researching and promoting the potential of British wool. With extensive experience working directly with various native wool breeds, she is deeply passionate about connecting people to the journey from field to fibre, hosting farm trips that inspire engagement with sustainable textiles and heritage craftsmanship.

Head of Sustainability and Regeneration Policy at Fashion Roundtable

Meg Pirie is Head of Sustainability and Regeneration Policy at think-tank and change-agency Fashion Roundtable and has a strong background in fashion, journalism and communications. Her initial research underpinned the Great British Wool Revival. Meg specialises in sustainability, slow-fashion, regeneration, heritage and culture and in particular how this can intersect with policy. Meg’s skillset focuses on distilling the complexities within the fashion and textiles sector to a range of audiences and engaging across a multitude of policy issues across the UK, EU and UN. She is perfectly placed to lead on provenance strategies for brands who are looking to tell their unique brand story