John Smedley knitwear is made in England, but they don’t use wool from English sheep. That’s because their hair is much coarser, which makes it unsuitable for clothing. New Zealand sheep provide yarn that is ultra-fine and extremely comfortable to wear. Richard and Annabelle Subtil farm around 15,000 Merino sheep at Omarama Station, a 12,000 hectare high country sheep and cattle property on New Zealand’s South Island. Over the last 10 years, John Smedley has built a lasting partnership with Richard and Annabelle. They select and shear their finest Merino wool, which travels around the world to their mill in Derbyshire. They chose to work with them because they produce exceptional quality wool and take an ethical, sustainable approach to farming. They then use it to create the high quality knitwear customers know and love.

In 2012, John Smedley launched collaboration with Comme des Garçons. Limited to over 170 pieces worldwide, each of the three styles are colour-dyed in Japan by Comme des Garçons and spun in super-fine merino wool at John Smedley’s Derbyshire mill.