Huddersfield Textile Society

04/06/2026

Over 400 years ago, wool helped build the economy.

Yesterday, I stood in Downing Street because of a business built around British wool. 🐑

Sometimes I have to stop and think how surreal that is.

While walking through No.11, one portrait caught my eye: Queen Elizabeth I. She understood the importance of wool to the nation’s prosperity centuries ago.

Today, wool still supports farmers, manufacturers, makers and small businesses across the UK.

As we search for solutions to some of today’s challenges, from plastic pollution to supporting British farming, I often find myself coming back to the same thought.

Maybe we don’t need to invent something new.

Maybe we just need to look again at what we’ve had all along. 🐑

23/05/2026

Congratulations to previous Award winner on winning the Supply Chain Champion award yesterday at 👏 🏆
Creating unique 'sheep breed faces' tumble dryer balls and felted soap bars using wool.

Do you have an innovation using wool? The Awards are open for entry until 30 June. See link https://innovationinwool.com for application details.

20/05/2026

18/05/2026

25/04/2026

At the heart of our project lies colour. But why does it matter?

Because colour shapes how we see the world and how the world sees us. It has its own language; wealth or work, fashion or function, authority or resistance. Long before labels or logos, colour did the talking.

In textiles, colour was never random and definitely not ‘just decoration’. It carried meaning, skill and risk. A successful shade could define a product or a business; a failed batch could mean wasted time, money, and materials. Getting colour right mattered to makers, mill owners, wearers, and buyers alike and was woven into everyday mill life.

Behind every shade is a process of choosing fibres, sourcing dyes, testing recipes, and trying (again and again) to get the same colour twice. But colour at the Mills went beyond its textiles.

It reflects global trade routes, local resources, changing tastes, and technological change. And it reminds us that even the most familiar shades have a backstory.

Over the coming months, we’ll be looking closely at colour, not just what we see but how it was made, why it mattered, and what it can tell us about life at the Mills. From the science of colour vision and colour theory to all the colours in our Collection at the Museum & Archive and around the Mills, both textile and non-textile.

Find out more about our Dyevolution project funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund: https://ow.ly/WHWY50YNVrq

13/04/2026

Book your free ticket for our next lecture here

Gemell showcase the latest innovations in textile design systems, next-generation realism from yarn to fabric through to virtual garments.

04/04/2026