INTERVIEW #34 SHEEP INC
Based in: London
Founded in: 2019
Founded by: Edzard van der Wyck, CEO & Co Founder and Michael Wessely, COO and Co Founder
Stores: Direct to consumer only, ships world wide: https://sheepinc.com/
Price range: £50 - £180
Why we love them: Nice to the planet, nice to the people and perhaps the best thing about Sheep Inc, they’re nice and respectful to animals. Also the fact that you can trace your garment to the specific sheep who grew the wool in your sweater AND you may follow the sheep’s journey and even name it. An innovative brand which brings something more than “just” innovative clothes, Sheep Inc invites you to experience a new world of fashion manufacturing.
What is Sheep Inc and why did you start?
Sheep Inc. is the first naturally carbon negative fashion brand. It was born to show there is a better, more progressive way to produce fashion. Where the clothes we buy are no longer part of the problem, but part of the solution.
What is your sustainability profile?
It starts with looking at the product needs. So, deciding what characteristics the product should have to make it both highly wearable and highly durable. Because the most sustainable items are ones that stay part of your wardrobe for generations to come. What follows is then considering what material is best suited to perform the desired function in the most sustainable way possible. For us it was Merino wool that fit all our criteria. Being a fibre that can be worn through all seasons thanks to its natural ability to regulate body temperature, one that is incredibly durable whilst also being 100% biodegradable. It also has natural, anti-microbial properties that it self-cleans and odours don’t linger on the fibre, minimising the need to wash it — meaning it has a low lifespan impact. Once we had figured out what material we were using, we built our supply chain from the bottom up, rather than starting at the factory/manufacturer like traditional fashion brands. With a goal to naturally mitigate more CO2 impact than we produce.
Starting from the bottom up, meant in our case starting with the sheep. Our wool is sourced in New Zealand from sheep stations at the forefront of the regenerative farming movement, sequestering more CO2 from the environment than their operations emit — approx. -10.5 kg of CO2 per kg of wool produced. In addition to their regenerative farming commitments, the sheep stations we work with are also ZQ certified, meaning they conform to the highest animal welfare standards worldwide. The rest of our suppliers are equally aligned and committed to having a positive carbon impact. With all our manufacturers working with solar electricity and committed to other innovative sustainable manufacturing methods that mean the entire manufacturing stage accounts for only c. 0.5kg CO2e. An important note to add (as we always get asked this) is about transport. The net emission profile at the farm level far outweighs the negative impact of transport. Transport, if done by ship like we do, is a proportionally small part of our overall footprint, averaging about +0.6 kg of CO2 impact per sweater (compared to that -10.5 kg of CO2 mitigated at farm level).
In general, whilst certainly problematic, transport is nowhere near the biggest issue in most fashion supply chains. In our industry, the raw material, production and use stages are areas where you can make the biggest improvements – which is what we aim to do. On top of having a naturally negative carbon footprint for all our products, we invest 5% of our revenue into regenerative biodiversity projects. Our Impact Fund investment strategy is focussed on biodiversity innovations and is led in partnership with Head of Climatology at University College London, Prof. Mark Maslin.
In terms of communication, the main message we wanted to get across when starting Sheep Inc. is that we’ve lost touch with the story (and impact) behind the things we wear. 80% of fashion companies today don’t know where their garments’ raw materials come from. So through the product, we wanted to bring people back in touch and remind them that every product made carries a creation story. And that this provenance journey should be considered before making a purchase. That’s why each garment is not only fully traceable, but it also comes with its own trackable sheep. To remind customers that every piece of clothing started somewhere. In our case, with a sheep living in New Zealand’s High Country.
The information is easily accessible through an NFC Tag in the hem of the sweater. The tag is made from a castor-bean derived bio-plastic called Ecopaxx®. A tap of your phone lets you see the sweater’s journey, its carbon footprint at each stage of the supply chain — and it also allows you to name and track a (real-life) sheep on one of the farms that provided the wool. Because awareness is where change really starts to take shape.
How and where are the products produced?
Sheep Inc. spearheaded a synergistic partnership across suppliers and manufacturers, with the aim to minimise impact and maximise performance. With the collective belief of leveraging the best of nature, science and humans, to create a product that leaves behind zero impact, zero harm and zero waste.
At the raw material stage, Sheep Inc. exclusively uses carefully sourced, extra-fine 19.5μ Merino wool from 3 regenerative sheep stations in New Zealand: Lake Hawea Station, Middlehurst Station and Omarama Station. These three farms sit at the forefront of the regenerative farming movement and use innovative land management, feeding and grazing techniques to capture more CO2e from the atmosphere than their operations emit. Making their properties, as well as the wool they produce, carbon-negative. This carbon-negative fibre is then processed by Sheep Inc.’s industry-leading supply chain partners across Europe, who run on 100% solar power, to spin the yarn, manufacture the garment and run logistics. To ensure all manufacturing happens entirely carbon-neutrally.
Using the next evolution in material science, Sheep Inc. works with German yarn mill Südwolle to spin the extra-fine Merino wool and apply a chlorine- free treatment to the yarn called Eternity X-Care®. A pioneering, performance-increasing treatment for the wool that uses no chlorine or harmful chemicals and is Bluesign© and Oekotex® certified. With the aim to achieve unparalleled quality, machine-washability and generational durability. Each hoodie is then created by Portuguese specialist knitter Fatextil using 100% solar powered, 3D Wholegarment® knitting machines, to ensure a zero-waste manufacturing process. All orders are fulfilled from UK’s first carbon-neutral logistics partner Airbox, which is completely solar powered and uses electric vehicles.
What have been and are the major challenges?
As a “sustainable” brand you come under a lot more scrutiny. So there is a lot of need to justify why you make certain choices. This isn’t necessarily the “worst” part of it, but you spend a lot of time justifying decisions — and some people’s minds are made up about you before you’ve even had a chance to talk through the reasons why you’ve made choices. That can be frustrating, but on the flipside it’s also encouraging that people are starting to interrogate brands’ sustainability claims more and more. Green washing is obviously a hot topic (and rightly so). So this is where you need to make sure you are genuinely behaving in a way that isn’t harming planet or people — with the understanding that it is always a journey, never a destination.
What has been and are the largest gain?
What is exciting is the amount of innovation happening in the space. We’re next working on even more innovative yarn types and treatments to really push the material science part of the garment. To ensure that we continue to both improve the performance of the knitwear and to lessen our impact further. And the technology here is hugely exciting and we’re just at the start of a long journey of really pushing the boundaries of what is possible.
What is “greenwashing” according to you and what can producers and consumers do to avoid it?
The most important thing is to personally investigate and ask questions. There are lots of companies out there willing to mislead with clever marketing speak. We believe in 100% transparency and traceability to ensure we have these open and honest conversations with customers.
In terms of communication, the main message we wanted to get across when starting Sheep Inc. is that we’ve lost touch with the story (and impact) behind the things we wear. 80% of fashion companies today don’t know where their garments’ raw materials come from. So through the product, we wanted to bring people back in touch and remind them that every product made carries a creation story. And that this provenance journey should be considered before making a purchase.
Sharing the full journey comes down to transparency, and transparency comes down to accountability. We need to get to the stage where brands give customers the full, non-redacted, picture of the journey and the impact behind the things they buy. By giving the customer this comprehensive overview, it will allow them to make better and more informed purchasing decisions. And it will also drive brands to improve their behaviour, as they will be judged on a public forum.
What would you advise consumers to do who seek to create a sustainable closet and lifestyle?
Again, investigate. Buy less but well. Focus on natural materials and products with longevity. Our starting point was designing a classic wardrobe staple, the crew neck sweater, and trying to perfect it. That meant making sure it felt amazing to wear, would be incredibly long lasting and use materials with minimal impact on the environment. We chose a special blend of Merino wool that has all the softness of cashmere, with all the technical benefits of wool. Meaning it is heat regulating (warm when cold, breathable when hot) and doesn’t need to be washed often, as it naturally repels dirt and doesn’t hold moisture or odours. On top of that, it is incredibly durable. Whilst simultaneously being 100% biodegradable.
Who else should I interview?
I like to look outside the fashion industry for inspiration. But our wool suppliers are worth talking to for those really ahead of the curve in regenerative farming.
