Izzy Lane Ethical Fashion | RE:Fashion Designer of the Year

Our Production

The Spinner

The height of the industrial revolution saw the birth of Joseph Horsfall and Sons in West Yorkshire, cradle of the British textile industry.

But founder Joseph Horsfall, born at Heptonstall, near Halifax, in 1818, almost abandoned the world of business when the new power looms threatened his livelihood as a hand weaver.
He trained for the Baptist ministry and was minister at Shore Chapel, near Todmorden, from 1852 until 1861, when he finally embraced the power loom. He set up his own business, which eventually moved to Halifax.

Clarence Mill, where the company trades today, was bought in 1894. Until this time, the firm concerned itself only with weaving but the move prompted a switch to worsted spinning, due, it is believed, to increased weaving competition from Europe.

Five generations of the family – Horsfalls and then Butlers by marriage - have been involved in the business, with Brian and Michael Butler currently running the operation.
When the brothers took over, there were 51 worsted spinners in Calderdale; now they are the only one, employing about 30 people. Some of the machines they use today date back to the Victorian era.

The Weaver

Our weaver is based in Langholm in Dumfreisshire where our yarn is woven traditionally on looms to produce our beautiful Shetland cloth. The mills in this area were established in the 19th century gaining a world wide rerputation for excellence which is still present today.

The Knitters

Izzy Lane has a network of handknitters, mainly from North Yorkshire, who lovingly knit the Wensleydale garments. Most of them have been knitting all their lives and are delighted to now be producing garments in Wensleydale, arguably the best wool in the world. The pleasure to knit the garments has been enhanced by the knowledge that the sheep are being lovingly cared for and will live out their natural lives.

The Shetland jumpers the cashmere garments and the Wensleydale machine-knitted waistcoats have been manufactured in the Shetland Isles.