The Purple team have launched their first website of the month, for recycling project iinouiio. Based in Bately, iinouiio (it is not over until it is over) is a project focused on battling climate change and fast fashion by giving old textiles a new life and turning them into new resources!
The thinking behind iinouiio came from John’s past. He and his father ran an extremely successful factory, Evergreen, in Batley in the 1980s providing re-purposed yarns and materials to well-known brands including Esprit. The concept of shredding unwanted fabric and creating something new was very much ahead of its time and was known as the ‘shoddy’ trade. However, disaster struck when a fire hit the Evergreen factory and the business was forced to close. Now John is back and drawing upon his wealth of experience in the shoddy trade to feed into the sustainable fashion and crafting market. For John this made picking the name easy – It is not over until it is over – clearly showing everyone that he is ready to get the shoddy trade up and running once again at a time that the demand for sustainable living is doing nothing but increasing. We think that what John and his team are doing is incredible and are very proud to have been involved in the project!
John came to us looking for a new website to support his project, which needed to have a variety of functions to show off the different aspects of his work. Primarily, the website needed a shop platform to offer a place to sell the yarns and wool made from recycled post-consumer textiles. But, alongside the shop, he also wanted the website to inform and educate people, giving him a space to share information about the history of the textile industry and the process he and his small team go through to create their produce. Due to the nature of the project, he also wanted the website to entice people to get on board and support his venture.
The website has now created a space for iinouiio to sell their first batch of reclaimed wool, made with loving care by iinouiio’s founders. There are plenty of different shades for you to get your hands on, all with fantastic names such as Daybreak in Dewsbury and Granny’s Best Mash! The website also has a blog page, to not only promote John’s passion for recycling textiles, but also offer a place for people to learn about the story behind the textile industry. The website if full of learning opportunities, as well as the blog, including embedded YouTube videos which give an insight into the work that John and his team do.
There is a really interesting Arts, History & Education page on the new website, full of information about the past of wool recycling which just shows the expertise behind iinouiio. In the future, John has big plans for theatre productions, podcasts, blog posts and videos, all with the aim to educate, inform, and entertain the public about the history of Textiles in the Yorkshire region to ensure that memories are not forgotten – so watch this space!
This is a new venture for John that he has been funding himself and he also wants to educate people about recycling and the British Textile Industry. With increasing concerns about resource depletion, climate change and 'fast fashion', we hope the iinouiio project will be supported. It’s been a pleasure to work with someone with such a huge passion for their work and we can’t wait to see the project continue to blossom!