EMILY WATTS

Tell us about your brand… I wanted to show that British wool is a beautiful material not to be dismissed and relevant to contemporary design. My philosophy is to celebrate local, sustainable materials in their purest form. I use undyed British wool in natural shades, some of which I commission myself from small, family-run mills. How do you transform the material into objects? My grandmother introduced me to knitting when I was young and, since then, I’ve always looked at things and wondered how they are made. I view textiles as a form of construction. The patterns featured in my textiles are woven in by hand as the fabric is knitted – it’s almost like drawing and results in something very tactile. The pieces are always finished with hand stitching.

What do you hope to achieve next? My ambition is to employ more women to work alongside me. I also want to produce more pieces on a larger scale and make bigger 3D shapes, while still maintaining the handmade quality of my work. @thegoodshepherduk