Hi! My name is Hope Macaulay and I am from the beautiful North Coast of Northern Ireland. I began my namesake contemporary luxury fashion brand at 22 years old when I graduated from Fashion & Textile Design at University in 2018. 

I am heavily involved in the creation process and the running of Hope Macaulay the brand, from designing prints to the creation of knitwear pieces to social media posts! Please see my About the brand page to find out more about my brand, my inspirations and my latest Q&A on our Instagram story highlights!

We create my garments all over Northern Ireland, by a small team of knitters and seamstresses – and also myself! We strongly believe in high quality, made-to-order, handmade garments, shopping small and supporting local women in our community. To meet our wonderful knitters, check out our Responsibility page!

All our garments are handmade to order in small quantities and will take anywhere between 1-4 weeks to create especially for you. Please see product description for exact estimation. Made-to-order means we only create a garment when it has been ordered by one of our customers. This reduces waste and also means that we can create special custom garments specifically for you. 

Our biodegradable nylon collection has been designed to be kinder to the planet and vegan friendly. Using new and innovative technology (the first of it’s kind), this collection biodegrades in around 5 years when disposed of in landfills, compared to more than 50 years for synthetics in general. This reduces the environmental impact and the amount of waste left to future generations. The yarn has also been manufactured by recycling processed water.

Our merino and corriedale wool is a natural, renewable, biodegradable fibre which has a super buttery soft feel. Merino wool biodegrades in less than a year when disposed of in landfills, which majorly reduces the environmental impact and the amount of waste left to future generations. 

About 90% of your merino wool or biodegradable nylon Hope Macaulay piece will biodegrade after landfilling. They are turned into organic matter (biomass) and biogas which can become new resources for the environment, as well as being used for combined heat and power production.

The chemical structure of synthetic fibres, generally speaking, does not allow for bacterial penetration, which makes the degradation process more complex and slower. Our nylon collection on the other hand, is produced using enhanced polyamide, which – under landfill conditions – facilitates access and digestion of waste material by bacteria, thus accelerating the biodegradation process.

The biodegradation properties only become apparent under landfill conditions, where there is no oxygen and bacteria specifically in charge of anaerobic decomposition are found. Therefore it does not decompose after standard use and this product’s lifecycle is the same as that of traditional polyamide yarns.

Our merino wool is responsibly sourced and RWS certified. This means that it comes from farms which are inspected and meet not only the 5 freedoms criteria, but also further welfare standards for their animals such as no mulesing. They also are inspected with regards to their working environment as well as their land management and environmental impact to ensure that all they are doing is in keeping with the RWS requirements. The RWS is a voluntary standard, so farms apply to be part of it and are only accepted if they reach the correct standards.

Our corriedale wool is also responsibly and ethically sourced from non-mulesed flocks. The dye used in the wool also has a OEKO TEX 100 certification meaning it doesn’t contain any harmful chemicals.

Please see our How to care page for more information.

Due to the handmade and made-to-order nature of the garments, each piece may vary ever so slightly – but don't worry, it may not even be noticeable! Any variations or unevenness in the design are characteristics of their handmade nature should be considered an asset. This is what we love about them!