I started my brand when I realised the destruction of heritage craft, local communities and livelihoods of makers across the UK due to the disappearance of the British Knitwear Industry. I am devoted to championing and celebrating Slow Fashion, British Manufacturing and Sustainable Design.

Knitting has always been a part of my life. I’ve been knitting since the age of 5, secretly knitting throughout my childhood until I realised there was a career in knitwear. I studied Fashion Knitwear at Nottingham Trent University, a four year degree in which I specialised in menswear with a year working in industry. I went on to work in design, development and production for global brands in New York, Switzerland and London.

Throughout this time I always knitted in the evenings and weekends and I spent a lot of my free time travelling around factories and yarn mills soaking up the industry, meeting artisans and falling in love with the craft.

When I moved back to London I started to buy and restore old knitting machines called Dubieds. I would find them on Gumtree and eBay and travel up to Scotland, sitting in pubs with the owners of the machines. I was engrossed in their stories of working in a golden age of knitwear and the disappearance of not just their industry, but their communities when knitwear production moved to the Far East in the 1980s. I left these meetings utterly heartbroken and knew I wanted to help. The fashion industry didn’t make sense: global brands over-producing, causing huge waste, and cutting corners on quality for price, not to mention the carbon footprint created with samples being sent across the world to check a colour.

I always wanted to start my own brand but I knew I wanted it to set a standard and show that sustainable knitwear was possible. I started a project with retired hand intarsia knitters, in hope of giving them a portfolio of modern designs to show their craft to other brands. The first design was the Davin (named after my knitter’s mum). Once I saw the finished cashmere sweater, I knew this was the start of the Genevieve Sweeney brand.

I am devoted to the art of slow fashion with a seamless blend of tradition, innovation, and sustainability at the heart. GS knitwear is made in the UK with small family-run factories usingfrom Scotland, Derbyshire, Leicester, London and Oxford. natural fibres that are renewable and biodegradable. Every detail is considered, down to the British made button, that is natural, traceable and biodegradable.