OUBAS
Knitwear brand
100% motivated by the grief of fast fashion, impact on the environment and on humanity. I founded OUBAS in 2012 to grow it during my career to have an impact locally on UK production and to bring textile production back to my hometown of Ulverston. We are an ethical producer, paying our team of 5 at least the Real Living Wage. We inspire and educate through our brand and community and offer up a respect for and an understanding of British and regional fibres, local production and to see the transparency in processes at our workshop where people can visit.
What is so amazing about working with British Wool? The traceability, the impact on farming close to home, changing perceptions about wool and about what can be done with British wool through design. Creativity, adding value through design.
If any/ what have been your challenges with working with British wool and a local way of working? We have used a lot of stock supported yarns, we have worked closely with Maria at Dodgson wood in 2021/22/23 however latterly found it difficult running straight to production of large quantities before being able to test the spin and handle. Finding fine spun 2/17s count has been difficult but moving forwards we are working closer with a yarn consultant who can help us to develop yarn suitable for our designs and product ranges.
What gauge of Knitwear do you sell? i.e fine gauge 10-12gg or more chunky knits such as 7- 5gg. 12gg to 3gg and all inbetween. We sell a lot of 5gg knitwear in donegal wool and also 5gg british wool and 3gg british wool. The finest British wool we currently sell is 5gg .....(please state gauge range and also if it is British Wool).
Do you finish onsite? If not, is it convenient or what would be your ideal situation? yes we do all processes on site (knitting, washing, linking, finishing and shipping)
Do you find a lot of push back in the industry in terms of working with British wool? No because we are the manufacturer and it’s something we’re passionate about.
Do you find that customers are becoming more interested in British wool? 100% they are. – having had my label since 2012 they are way more engaged and also aware of provenance and willing to invest more in British wool. Stories of fleeces being worth nothing however is difficult as it makes people think it’s worthless and also that we are profiting a lot from it, when actually it is very costly to process and produce with, particularly when looking to spin exclusive yarns. There is a way to connect communities to agriculture again and to empower farmers to farm wool again.
On a scale of 1- 10 (1 being the lowest and 10 excellent) how much do you think your business has improved in the below areas as a result of good working practices and environmental standards?
Waste Production - 8 (off-cuts, production)
Plastic Pollution - 9 (packaging)
Water Wastage - 7 (dyeing and finishing)
Energy Consumption - 8 (shipping, machinery etc)
Do you have any hero farmers or people in your supply chain you would like to highlight? Maria Benjamin at Dodgson Wood/Wool Library, Zoe Fletcher.