WOOL COUTURE COMPANY INFORMATION
Welcome to the world of Wool Couture. We are a leading designer and retailer of luxury yarns, DIY knitting and crochet kits, and DIY weaving and macramé kits. We design stylish, unique kits that are innovative, creative, accessible and ready to make for today’s busy committed crafter and casual creative; and to inspire and nurture artisans in their own handmade journey.
Claire Gelder used her love and passion of working with wool to found her business Wool Couture in 2015, aiming to inspire others to take up the centuries-old pastimes of macramé, knitting, weaving and crochet by giving these timeless hobbies a twenty-first century makeover. We focus on exceptional and original designs and pattern writing, and inspiring artisans across the world to make our products.
After Claire set up her first online store with Etsy, orders soon started pouring in, and after hitting on her winning formula, the dedicated designer called upon support from Launchpad, a free-to-access business support programme, part funded by the European Regional Development Fund, which is delivered to new business owners across the Sheffield City Region. From a high growth start, where in a period of only six months Wool Couture turned over £160k, latest figures show a current turnover of £500k.
Wool Couture has analysed its figures, and sales show that the company has grown significantly during its first two years of trade, changing from a ‘passion’ hobby partnership to a successful Limited company, expanding both operations and turnover. Based on analysis of previous performance and industry predictions, Wool Couture are on track to achieve £750k turnover in 2018, and through implementation of strategic marketing activities and continuing to build on our product range, we will double our turnover within the next two years.
Using metre-long knitting needles and giant balls of yarn, Claire has built her successful business by helping others to master the crafts through her range of bespoke products and DIY kits ranging from scarves to blankets, attracting a dedicated army of followers.
Claire Gelder, Founder Wool Couture said:
“From day one my business has been about designing, creating, making and sharing. We’re at the very beginning of our business journey and there’s still much more I would like to achieve. “
“I first began knitting and learning to crochet as a child and my interest in working with wool grew from there. Over the years I have used it as way of managing anxiety and depression, as well as a way of channelling my creative energies. I began experimenting with different designs, and started using larger and larger yarns, even using my arms instead of knitting needles.”
Ben Hawley, business advisor, Launchpad said:
“Claire is a natural entrepreneur and with Wool Couture she has successfully combined her business acumen with a pastime she is passionate about.”
Wool Couture believes in keeping traditional crafts alive through quirky and innovative designs. Our family business is here to make great products; this is our primary focus. We are constantly focusing on being the best that we can be through offering outstanding products, excellent customer service and delivering a profitable business.
Our business is about wool and wood and we believe we have an ethical duty to be a responsible buyer of these materials. We will only work with producers that can show us the origins of their materials and demonstrate that these have been ethically sourced. We are proud to say that we only ever use 100% pure merino wool, there is no acrylics or synthetics in our yarns, just the real deal.
Unique to Wool Couture is that we make our own wood-turned tools and laser-cut products in our dedicated workshop, to complement our yarn and rope DIY projects – a natural love affair between wood and wool, all ethically and sustainably sourced.
Claire says, “The 21st century has seen a resurgence of knitting. This resurgence can be noted in part to coincide with the growth of the internet and internet-based technologies, as well as the general ‘Handmade Revolution’ and interest in DIY crafts.”
“A lot of consumers enjoy the process of pulling something together, rather than just going out and buying it,” says Neil Saunders, consulting director at Verdict Research.
Current online customers come from all corners of the world, with a substantial market in the USA and Europe. They are mostly online savvy women who are attracted to desirable and achievable products that are ethically sourced, and are highly influenced by lifestyle trends.
People no longer want to invest long periods of time creating hand finished items. They want results and they want them now. Our range of yarns and DIY kits offer our customers a unique experience.
Our manufacturing capabilities for our giant knitting and crochet tools stand us apart from the rest. Not only do we supersize, we also extend our range to offer other yarns and kits to complement our supersize range. This gives Wool Couture the opportunity to stand out from the crowd because we believe at Wool Couture that the difference is HUGE.
See more on our website:
Our Story
Modern Artisan
Proudly UK
Wood and Wool
DIY Kits
Yarn and Rope
Made Products
Tools