The appointment is announced during Wool Month in October, when the Campaign for Wool will once again bring together farmers, manufacturers, designers, brands, retailers and consumers through a programme of events and activities celebrating wool and its many applications across fashion, interiors and artisan products.
Wool Month provides the perfect opportunity, as autumn begins, to bring to the fore the many benefits of this remarkable natural fibre. It is a time to highlight the growing number of brands and companies choosing wool as a renewable, sustainable and versatile fibre, while placing greater emphasis on traceability, responsible land management, animal welfare, recycling and circularity. Collectively, we all have a role to play in supporting the health of our biosphere and protecting natural resources for future generations. Wool, with its inherent qualities and potential for responsible production and circular use, has an important part to play in that journey.
Ian Maclean has been a long-standing supporter of the Campaign for Wool and has played an active role in the wider UK wool and textile industry throughout his career. As Chairman of his family-owned knitwear company, John Smedley Ltd, Ian brings considerable experience from the manufacturing and retail sectors. He is also the grantee of two Royal Warrants held by the company. His appointment follows the unanimous endorsement of the Campaign’s Funders’ Board, which recognises Ian’s longstanding commitment to wool and his extensive experience across manufacturing, fashion and textiles, the wide use of different wool types from the Commonwealth including Merino and British wools, iconic collaborations, global commercial retail channels both in-store and online.
Ian was President of the Sandringham Association of Royal Warrant Holders in 2025 (Patron, His Majesty The King) and served as Chair of The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) from 2022 to 2025. He has served as a Director on the Board of the UK fashion and textile trade association (UKFT) for the past 12 years and is Chair of the Textile Committee for The Clothworkers’ Company. In 2020, Ian was awarded an MBE for his company’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic and for services to the UK textile industry.
Ian’s appointment follows the passing of Peter Ackroyd, whose contribution to the Campaign for Wool and the international wool industry spanned many decades. The appointment ensures continuity of governance for the Campaign and provides a strong foundation for its ongoing work and future development.
His Majesty King Charles III, Patron of the Campaign for Wool first conceived his International Campaign in 2008, when he was HRH The Prince of Wales in support of farmers and wool’s natural benefits. The Campaign was formally launched to consumers in 2010 with a purpose to raise awareness of the unique and sustainable properties of wool as a natural fibre and to promote its many uses across fashion, interiors and other areas of everyday life, as well as supporting the farmers and woolgrowers across the Commonwealth where the leading wool growing sectors exist in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and of course closer to home in the British Isles.
Commenting on his appointment, Ian Maclean MBE said: “It is a great honour to be appointed Chairman of the Campaign for Wool. As a long-standing supporter of the Campaign since its inception, I have seen first-hand the importance of His Majesty’s vision in bringing together the many different parts of the wool community. Wool has such an important role to play in the future of textiles, with its natural, renewable and biodegradable qualities making it increasingly relevant as we seek more sustainable materials and more responsible ways of producing and consuming. I look forward to working with our partners and supporters around the world to build on the strong foundations laid by those who have led the Campaign before me, and to continue championing wool for future generations.”
The Campaign for Wool is a not-for-profit international organisation that aims to educate and raise consumer awareness of wool’s unique, sustainable properties as a natural fibre. The Campaign works with collaborative partners across the international wool supply chain to promote its versatility and the wide range of products and applications it offers. The Campaign promotes all wool types and all wool product categories. His Majesty The King first conceived the initiative in 2008, when he was HRH The Prince of Wales, and it was formally launched to consumers in 2010. His Majesty believes that wool’s natural, renewable origin and highly technical structure offer fashion and interiors many benefits. And by choosing wool helps to protect the planet through the reduction in man-made fibres that ultimately go into landfill and the ocean and will help to safeguard the planet for future generations. Wool not only biodegrades in soil, adding nutrients back to the earth, but it also biodegrades in the ocean and water and therefore wool does not impact the planet with microfibre and plastic pollution. Wool Month is an exclusive campaign of the Campaign for Wool. British Wool, Australian Wool Innovation/Woolmark, Cape Wools, New Zealand Wool Collective, The Clothworkers’ Company and The Woolmen are all affiliates of The Campaign for Wool.
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