Inaugural Wool Conference Starts September 9 in Scotland

Ayrshire, Scotland, September 7, 2016—On September 9, the first-ever Dumfries House Wool Conference will take place, a gathering of key members of the fashion, interiors and wool industry organized by The Campaign for Wool and supported by Marks & Spencer.

This event, which has been referred to by HRH The Prince of Wales as the ‘Davos of Wool’, will be the largest and most prestigious international gathering of wool experts ever held in the United Kingdom.

Animal welfare, sustainability and quality, environmental issues and slowing down fast-fashion turnover will be discussed during the conference.

Confirmed guests and participants include Steve Rowe, Marks & Spencer CEO; British designer Sir Paul Smith; Paolo Zegna, chairman of Ermenegildo Zegna; Nicholas Coleridge CBE, president of Condé Nast International and chairman of The Campaign for Wool; Alan Savory, president and co-founder, The Savory Institute; Alan Folwell, chairman of Adam Carpets; Livia Firth, founder and creative director of Eco-Age and super model David Gandy, the face of Marks & Spencer.

These industry leaders and other key speakers will discuss the future of the wool industry, key objectives to achieve in the years to come, how the business can be supported by the four main funding nations of The Campaign for Wool and the challenges the fashion and interior sectors face.

As part of the event, The Campaign for Wool and the International Wool Textile Organisation will preside over the signing of The Dumfries House Wool Declaration. "Custodians of the wool industry" will ensure a commitment to protect the environment, uphold the best possible practices for sheep welfare, growing, trading, manufacturing and selling wool, and wool-related products at all times.

The Dumfries House Wool Declaration will agree, among other things, that the major wool-growing countries conform to the strictest standards of animal welfare as embodied in the IWTO Specifications for Wool Sheep Welfare. The IWTO Specifications are premised on the Five Freedoms of Animal Welfare as set forth by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE): freedom from hunger and thirst, freedom from discomfort, freedom from pain, injury or disease, the freedom to express normal behavior, and freedom from fear and distress. The Five Freedoms also form the basis of national animal welfare legislation in each of these wool-growing countries.