Description:
Based in the village of Kilbarchan in Scotland, Jamie Possum is a partnership between
wife and husband team Ali and James Gillies. Ali is a keen bear maker and, while
visiting family in North Island, New Zealand in 2001, the couple came across a teddy
bear made from Brush Tailed Possum; something neither had seen before. Hand sewn
from a leather rivalling the finest kid, the fur which covered it was incredibly
soft. They learned that this enormously destructive animal was busily ravaging New
Zealand, destroying everything in its path. Imported and released into an unprepared
countryside in the 19th century, if not stopped, there was a very real risk that
by the end of the 21st century no native species would remain.
The government was battling to protect the country’s unique ecology by funding an
annual cull of the possum, and a young industry was springing up to try and develop
ways of dealing with the product of that cull. It seemed that, every day, someone
was thinking up new ways to use possum pelts. One of the most successful was a yarn
spun from the fur fibre. Ali, who is also a dedicated knitter, was bowled over by
its quality. She brought home samples of the yarn, a teddy bear, and a passion for
possum. Within months she satisfied the enthusiasm of her knitting circle by taking
delivery of a small shipment.
In 2006, the original stock was long depleted and the couple decided that it was
time to import a fresh shipment. It turned out that the small New Zealand firm which
had supplied them was gone, and with it the yarn. Undaunted, Ali and James tracked
down the mill in which it had been spun, developed a brand new range of colours,
and commissioned their own brand. Possum Plus, a mix of possum and merino lamb’s
wool, launched at Alexandra Palace in London in October of that year.
In addition to its own expanding range of yarn, Jamie Possum now distributes possum
based knitwear and the same wonderful teddy bears which started off the whole relationship,
shipping to clients throughout the EU and beyond. Due to the level of enquiries from
the Southern Hemisphere, the partnership plans to start distributing from New Zealand
in the near future. |