How Oubas continues the long tradition of knitwear production in Cumbria

words and photography provided by Kate Stalker

With a vision to build an independent brand that has a positive and lasting effect on local employment as well as keeping the skills associated with knitwear and clothing production in Cumbria alive, and passing them on to the next generation, OUBAS is a great example of a small business that is turning traditional way of mass production on its head. Built on the community at its core, the brand creates more intimate relationships between the customer, the garments and its location rich in woollen trade history.

Founded by Kate Stalker, who grew up in Ulverston where the brand is based, OUBAS garments are made from high quality yarn, making them not only highly sustainable but also extra special to customers who want subtle and understated elegance.

Here Kate explains more about OUBAS values, sustainability and mission.

Where It All Began

OUBAS was launched for a few different reasons, encouraged primarily by intuition and a desire to be a positive force within the fashion landscape. Having gained skills in traditional knitwear production, I wanted to create something that was a slow, local alternative to a vast global industry. The complexities of the industry brought insight into what needed to shift over the coming decades, if, as a population, we are to stop damaging both people and the planet.

Through OUBAS we offer a hopeful and positive community where a closer relationship between ‘consumer’ and a clothing label can be enjoyed. A greater personal connection to an item of clothing is encouraged through our limited run collections and transparent processes. In all of history, there have been trade and art and we believe creativity is needed in these times more than ever.

Our vision is to build something that has a positive and lasting effect on employment in our local area and the skills associated with knitwear and clothing. We are changing the model and switching the traditional way of producing in large quantities and pushing the stock into the market. We are now able to collaborate with trade customers on their collections and our make-to-order model for end customers allows us to hold only small batches of our most popular knitwear styles. By offering these services our items are cherished and appreciated more.

Our belief is in celebrating the different relationship that comes with an item of clothing that has been made especially for you and being able to do that commercially is something we are proud to offer through OUBAS.

How Our Garments Are Made

We make all of our luxury knitwear designs in-house within the OUBAS studio situated in Ulverston, Cumbria. We combine heritage with modern knitting technology to produce traditional ‘fully fashioned’ knitwear, meaning each piece is shaped to fit with very little to no waste.

Unlike with cut and sew clothing where there is fabric waste, with knitting you only use exactly the amount of yarn needed to produce the item; it is already very low waste. For OUBAS knitwear we use pure, natural fibres such as wool, linen, cotton and cashmere which are all known for their soft hand feel and longevity.

We do not work with complex patterns but instead with the simplicity of yarn drape and the way that natural fibres take colour and dye. Using natural fibres means our items can easily return to the land after we use them or be recycled into new yarns or items. We select quality yarns that will last, making sure our finishing and overall construction of garments is robust and designed in a way where we eliminate weak seams and stretch where damage may occur through regular wear.

We use Stoll CAD knitting machinery - they can produce a very fine fabric down to a heavier chunky knit. We also have traditional knitwear linking machines for fine fabrics and mid-weight fabrics, so we link the fine lambswool, cashmere and merino on the fine machine and the Donegal and British wool styles on the chunkier one. These machines join together panels of knitting and attach necklines onto garments.

We also have specialist hand tools that we use to finish our pieces; latch tools to hide the ends of seams and needle hooks to catch any dropped stitches when mending items. We have high pressure steam irons and steam benches to press the knitwear, setting the fabric and settling the structure of the knit.

It is the innovation in this machinery and our direct to community concept that allows us to operate on a made-to-order and small batch model, building a resilient and truly more regenerative model as we do not buy in large amounts of stock and then discount at the end of a season, but offer timeless styles that are not trend-led but can be styled in different ways.

Sustainability And Materials

OUBAS styles are very linked to the tones and shades found in the landscape around us. The connection to natural beauty seen in the landscapes and using these shades in our knitwear means that they are always harmonious and the palette has a timeless quality to it. There are shades of mosses, lichens, stones, the brackens on the fell sides and the deep greens found in the local forests that come into the collections. That sense of place gives us a connection to nature that we seem to have lost. On a human level, using natural fibres breathe with wear, and are therefore much more comfortable. There is a natural drape and loftiness to using pure wools, and its natural characteristics are both antibacterial and insulating. It is a diverse fibre and using different breeds of sheep means we can achieve different textures and structures within a knit.

Environmentally, we are using a natural resource which can be replenished and doesn’t use harsh chemicals or finite resources such as oil to be produced. The organic cotton we use has grown sustainability, the landscape where it grows is managed regeneratively, and the farmers are treated fairly. We source our yarns from both UK and Italian yarn mills, known for the quality of the raw fibres they use, and also their environmental credentials. We select our yarns for their inherent characteristics and also for the process involved in their production. We look at the dyes used and the standards adhered to.

We use a British wool spun in Yorkshire, which was in our Men's Cable Sweater in 2020. Furthermore, we are working closely with local farmers here in Cumbria to develop our own yarns for our knitwear in the Southern Lake District. These are a blend of different fleeces working with the properties of each fibre to create something unique.

We source our cashmere from a Scottish cashmere mill who have been spinning cashmere for the last 150 years. Generations of knowledge have passed down within this mill, and it is these ancestors who we honour today by using their yarns. Since 1897 they have processed cashmere on the banks of Loch Leven in Kinross, and are now the only remaining cashmere mill in Scotland. Loch Leven hosts a world-renowned RSPB nature reserve. All the water the mill uses returns to the loch and is thoroughly cleaned to make sure the brown trout, pink-footed geese and 35,000 wintering birds can thrive.

The cotton we use is organic, spun in an Italian mill with zero carbon emissions using organic dyes. It is one of the most sustainable cotton we could find due to its environmental and ethical credentials. It is sourced from farms that are part of the Better Cotton Initiative. This is a global not-for-profit organisation and the largest cotton sustainability programme in the world. It is a method of standardisation, meaning that the cotton is grown ethically, offering better working conditions and savings of up to 90% of water in its production. The farmers all care for the health of the soil and work to enhance the biodiversity of their land, using it responsibly.

The merino we choose for our knitwear is sourced carefully from non-mulesing farms. This is an often controversial practice to avoid 'flystrike' in sheep. Donegal is a traditional yarn spun in Donegal, Ireland. It has beautiful slubs within the yarn adding specks of colour to the knit. There is no other traditional Donegal, we use the only one still spun and dyed in Ireland. Merino sheep herald originally from Spain, originally the breed is thought to have been created around the 12th Century when farmers introduced breeds from the British Isles and North Africa to their local stocks, which is generally thought of as when the breed would have been created.

Most of the lambswool shades we use are mélange shades, meaning that the fleeces are dyed into 5 or 6 shades before they are spun, giving a finished depth of colour which is rich and beautiful. The raw fleeces are sourced from South Africa due to the merino sheep needing warm, dry conditions. They are all from ethically certified farms that do not practise mulesing. In our Easy Tee we use a blend of organic cotton and linen spun by the Italian mill using GOTS certified dyes with no emissions. Linen itself is a strong fibre, second only to silk. It is durable and breathable and hypoallergenic.

Opening The Door Of The Past Into The Future

For centuries, our local area was famous for its textile manufacturing. The building which we currently occupy used to be a factory built by a local resident and inventor, Frederick Broome. Originally from Leicester, Fred, as they called him, made his fortune by manufacturing a textile spinning product which he invented. With a deep sense of public duty, during the Great Depression, by this time in retirement, Fred decided to use his wealth to create some employment in Ulverston with the aim to “get things going again”. First, he built eighteen houses up in Urswick Road.

Then, he built a new factory to manufacture textiles. He developed machinery to make an entirely new product called Ulvex, made from cashmere wool and silk. This material could be used as very fine knitting wool or woven into a warm but silk-like cloth. Today, Fred Broome is still a celebrated figure and a local hero who at the age when others were putting their feet up, he gave back to the community and made it thrive again. Through opening our doors to the public, showing them and passing our knowledge on how our garments are made, we are very privileged to continue the local textile manufacturing heritage into the 21st Century and beyond.

OUBAS is keen to collaborate and work with fellow likeminded businesses and trade, please get in touch via email: hello@oubasknitwear.co.uk

Website: oubasknitwear.co.uk

IG @oubasknitwear