The Incrediwools: Finisterre and Lesley Prior

Tom Kay founded cold water surfwear brand Finisterre in Cornwall in 2002 with an emphasis on technical know-how, high performance levels and sustainability. Nine years ago the company contacted Devon-based Lesley Prior, who had recently acquired a flock of Bowmont Merino sheep, to see if she would be interested in supplying them. Lesley now provides Finisterre with superfine Bowmont Merino wool, which it uses in limited edition ranges of jumpers and beanie hats. We caught with the pair to find out why wool inspires their work.

How exactly did the collaboration come about?

LP: In 2006 Finisterre’s design director got in touch and explained a bit about the company. It sounded great: a new, young organisation that sounded like it was doing something different, which is what I was doing really. Finisterre had a different ethos behind it. So I said yes.

TK: The thing with Merino wool is that it regulates your temperature perfectly. When you’re hot, it’s cold, and vice versa. In our early years, a lot of our Merino came from New Zealand and we thought, ‘Let’s try to bring it back to a British story’. The key was that we were looking for fine fibre sheep in the UK. That’s what we were hunting for. And then we found Lesley.

Lesley, is it true that you’re the only non-Australian British member of the Australian Superfine Wool Growers’ Association?

LP: Yes. It’s the same grade of wool, just grown in the UK. The president of the association came over last year on a European tour, visited my farm, went through my sheep and invited me to join. They’ve asked me to speak at their annual seminar in Tasmania in April 2016. I can’t believe it: an Englishwoman going out to Australia to talk about their wool!

How popular are your Merino products with customers?

TK: I’d say we could sell them three times over but we’re constrained by supply.

LP: I do the best I can! The point is that it would be tempting to do what happens in the alpaca industry. People just breed anything to say that they breed alpaca in the UK. But the consequences are a degrading of the quality. We don’t compromise. It’s all about the quality.

TK: A lot of people know the backstory and they love it. It’s almost like a club. They feel they know the brand and have a relationship with it.

You use a lot of wool in your other products. Why is wool such an important fibre to Finisterre?

TK: Wool is a great fibre for us. It does a lot of the things we’re looking for. It’s natural, it doesn’t need a lot of maintenance, the eco story is good, and if you go out to sea in February it is a good thing to have next to the skin. It is not like clammy cotton.

The Bowmont collection launches in-store and online today, just in time for #WoolWeek!