Craft with a conscience
Shiv Textiles is an independent, Brighton-based studio closing the loop on the fast-fashion industry. We rescue deadstock yarn destined for landfill and handcraft it into fine homewares, lifestyle accessories and sustainable weaving kits for you to give a new life at home.
Meet the maker: Siobhan Martin
My studio is about weaving sustainability into the textiles industry. By putting a modern spin on a traditional craft, I want to show that it’s possible for us to enjoy quality products – pieces you really cherish – while minimising the impact we have on the planet too.
Shiv Textiles was born in my bedroom in 2017. As an intern for big-name brands in the textiles and fashion industry, I’d been shocked by the amount of perfectly good materials going to waste. And I knew there had to be a better way. Fast fashion needs to take its foot off the pedal.
So I began contacting mills and factories, buying their yarns, zips, threads, buttons – all destined for landfill – by the kilogram. And it’s from this that all those cushions, scarves and weaving kits are created. This process never gets beige-and-boring. You have to think on your feet. Design with what you have. Every box of upcycled materials that lands in my studio feels like a small victory.
Buying with thought and care has never felt so important, and as I hope you’ll join me in honouring the lifecycle of our precious materials. And enjoy my textiles too.
Speak soon,
Shiv
