Yorkshire fashion founder travels globe combatting fast fashion

Alison Orr from the village of Masham in the Yorkshire Dales was an early adopter of the sustainable fashion movement, long before the terms sustainable and slow fashion became prominent.

Following many years of savvy second-hand shopping and selling, Alison stumbled across an opportunity to source 100 per cent cashmere pieces that would otherwise be sent to landfill. Since her discovery, Alison and her team at family-run Nearly New Cashmere Co have rescued tens of thousands of discarded 100 per cent cashmere items from across the globe to carefully restore these luxury cashmere jumpers.

Sharing her inspiration for setting up Nearly New Cashmere Co, Ali explained: “I have always cared about sustainability and disliked any kind of waste, whether it’s food waste or the fast fashion and throwaway culture we’re now surrounded by.

“When I discovered a source of 100 per cent discarded cashmere that was set to go to landfill, I just couldn’t bear the thought of the waste - especially when it is such a beautiful, long-lasting and in-demand fabric.

“With that in mind, I purchased a small amount of the cashmere to start repairing and restoring it - which was a huge success. In 2015, I decided to establish the business properly. I always wanted to start and grow a rural business and it was a bonus that I could do so by combining my passion for sustainability and slow fashion.”

Explaining how she sources cashmere, Ali commented: “Finding reliable sources of cashmere took a long time. Initially, I had just £500 to spend on stock and discarded cashmere sources don’t tend to be open about who or where they are, so it took a lot of time researching and pushing for people to agree to speak to me and sell to me, but this got easier after eventually getting my foot in the door with some great suppliers.”

Now Ali sources from all over the world including Canada, US, Italy and the UK. However, keen to lower her impact on the environment, Alison now adopts a ‘virtual travelling’ approach wherever possible, working with suppliers via Zoom which has resulted in her working with suppliers in India and Pakistan - without having to physically travel to the countries.

“Inevitably, discarded cashmere can come to us in not the best of conditions, however, we often get it in great condition too - there is a shocking amount of clothes that are sent to landfill that have never been worn and still have labels on them.”

Ali added: “It’s important for us to help educate our customers on how to be more sustainable and to do as much as we can to relieve the negative impact that the fashion industry has on the planet.

“We need to move away from the current throwaway culture, so we’re always looking at ways to help - whether that’s through our cashmere repair and restoration service or through our marketing channels where we share tips on second-hand buying and selling, restoring clothing and how to care for cashmere and knitwear”.

By Mark Adair – Correspondent, Bdaily

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