The Truth About Christmas Jumpers
This year 12 million people are set to buy Christmas jumpers even though there are 65 million Christmas jumpers stowed away from previous years. Seeing Christmas jumpers represents one of the best times of the year as well as being a prime example of terrible fast fashion. Here’s how we’re going to change that.
A Brief History of The Christmas Jumper
Christmas jumpers arguably are descendants of the humble Scandinavian fisherman’s jumper. Around 1890 these hand-knitted jumpers were knitted in two or more colours, garnished with geometric patterns, and named after local areas. Aside from the multi-coloured patterns the story of these jumpers is very similar to the fisherman’s Guernsey.
As people adopted outdoor activities such as skiing, they required hard wearing warm clothing which is exactly what the fisherman’s jumper was designed for. The once humble fisherman’s jumper now had the stage of affluent skiers and was seen as a symbol of luxury.
The 20th century and its manufacturing advancements made the production and designs of these jumpers faster and more complex respectively. Synthetic fibres were introduced and made the jumpers lightweight and cheap. Christmas and knitwear became synonymous and humans were now given access to cheap jumpers with a reindeer wearing a Santa hat. This is where the problems begin.
Christmas Jumpers Suck
Here are the stats. Research by the charity Hubbub suggest that a staggering 95% of Christmas jumpers were made completely or partly of plastic materials. The most common plastic being acrylic which takes a staggering 200 years to decompose. This means your cheap X-Mas jumper would most likely outlive you, your children, and perhaps your grand children.
What Can You Do?
If you already own a Christmas jumper, simply reuse it. You could even try your hand at DIY and add some festive decorations. You could even shop at your local charity shop. This would not only benefit the environment, but the charity too! Lastly, ensure your flashy new jumper is made from natural fibres which are 100% biodegradable.
What Are We Doing?
Now’s our chance for a shameless plug. Bearing all this in mind we’ve created the world’s first 100% British Wool Christmas Jumper. Why hasn’t anyone done it before? Great question. It’s risky but we’ve done it because it’s about time someone stepped in.
Design and Materials
We’ve had a huge focus on British Wool for a few reasons. Most of which is that we source ours from British farmers. The reason it’s risky relative to plastic fibres is that it costs roughly five times more. The payoffs though are incomparable.
- 100% biodegradable
- Wool thermo regulates your body temperature
- Wool repels water
- It also moisture wicks keeping you dry
Benefits aside, we decided on a snowflake design so you can wear your Mars Christmas Jumper year on year. We optimised the ribbed jacquard design so the machines can knit each panel rapidly. There’s an accented stripe to break up the colours. Finally, our highly talented Martians hand-finish the panels and examine it at each step for a flawless finish.
Treat yourself to one of our range of sustainable 100% British Wool Christmas Jumpers and be included on Santa’s nice list this year.