Revisiting our past, looking to the future
I’d always wondered what went on behind those big iron gates at A W Hainsworth. One morning I got the call to head down there to work.
I first came across AW Hainsworth and Sons Ltd around a quarter of a century ago.
I’d recently graduated from University of Leeds and I spent much of the first couple of years after that working in a number of temporary admin roles — mostly through local agency Pudsey Personnel — now Baker Harding Recruitment.
One morning I got a call to head down to Hainsworth’s, a mill just down the road from Pudsey Personnel’s office. They needed some cover on reception.
I’d always wondered what was behind those big iron gates, so I was excited to head through the front door, and take up my position behind the front desk.
I didn’t have the interest or knowledge that I have since developed in sustainability, clothing and textiles, but it was pretty obvious that there was something pretty special about what went on there.
Sadly, I didn’t get the call to go back for a second day. Let’s hope the receptionist was feeling better again — rather than it being a reflection on my admin skills, but I suppose we’ll never know….
Fast forward 25 years, and one of the most enjoyable pieces of work I’ve been part of at Zero Waste Leeds is our work on circularity, clothing and textiles.
We recently ran a project called Leeds Fashion Futures, working alongside the Regenerative Futures team at The RSA (The royal society for arts, manufactures and commerce) — exploring what a more sustainable future for clothing and textiles in Leeds might look like.
You can read more about the work we did here.
One strong theme that emerged was around heritage — and I loved learning more about the rich history in clothing and textiles in Leeds and West Yorkshire. AW Hainsworth and Sons Ltd are a key part of that.
It’s fair to say Leeds wouldn’t be the city it is today if it wasn’t for the clothing and textile industries.
Through this work we also got to know Patrick Grant & Community Clothing — another business doing brilliant, innovative work helping us to build a more sustainable future for clothing and textiles.
I love the story that’s shared below, where Patrick visits Hainsworth’s to find out more about the cloth that is made into the peacoats sold by Community Clothing.
It’s a reminder that it can be by looking to the past — to our heritage — that we can imagine and create a different future.
We’re hopeful we can continue to explore this in more detail in Leeds & West Yorkshire — to explore what a more circular fashion ecosystem — with businesses, the public sector, universities, designers, citizens… (ie all of us) playing our part.
#clothing #textiles #circulareconomy #circularity #innovation
I originally shared a version of this post on LinkedIn.