Sally Jackson
Founder & Designer
From a young age, I always knew I wanted to work in fashion. I grew up watching The Clothes Show, fascinated by the creativity and excitement of the fashion world, and dreaming of one day becoming a designer.
I went on to study Fashion Knitwear Design at Nottingham Trent University, where the course included a year-long work placement. This gave me the invaluable opportunity to experience life as a designer before I had even graduated.
I spent six months working in London and six months in New York, two very different but equally inspiring creative environments. It was an incredible introduction to the fashion industry and opened up a world of possibilities that felt a long way from my beginnings in a small village in Leicestershire.
One of those placements led to a job offer when I graduated, marking the start of what would become a 25+ year career in knitwear design, a career that has taken me around the world and given me the opportunity to work with some incredibly talented people and brands.
Learning the craft
My first job was in a knitwear swatch studio, and looking back, it was one of the most important parts of my career.
I was designing and knitting every day and it was here that I really learnt the craft of knitwear, understanding yarn, colour, stitch and technique through doing, experimenting and making. I developed a real love for working with colour and, in particular, for Fair Isle. There is something quite magical when the right colours come together to create a pattern. It is technical, creative and completely absorbing.
I was also incredibly lucky to work alongside some wonderfully talented people. I watched, listened and learnt from them, and many of the people I met during those early years are still friends today.
Those early experiences gave me a foundation that has stayed with me throughout my career.
A career around the world
From those early beginnings, my career took me much further than I could ever have imagined when I was growing up in Leicestershire.
Over the years I have travelled extensively and lived abroad for work and had the opportunity to work closely with knitwear factories and manufacturers in China and India.
I’ve been incredibly lucky to work alongside some amazingly talented technicians, designers, buyers and merchandisers, creating collection after collection of beautiful clothing.
Working in the fashion industry also taught me that designing beautiful clothes is only part of the job. There are always practical and commercial considerations, budgets, production, deadlines, minimums, yarn availability and, particularly when working for the high street, the constraints of creating something desirable at a price that works.
I learnt how to balance creativity with reality. How to find the most beautiful solution within a set of constraints. How to take an idea from an initial sketch, develop the yarn and colour, work with factories to perfect the details and eventually see that idea become a finished garment.
Those experiences have shaped me enormously as a designer.
I went on to design collections for some of Britain's best-known fashion brands, including Great Plains, Boden and Joules.
Early in my career I spent two years back in New York working for TSE Cashmere, as their Knitwear Developer across their womenswear, menswear and home collections.
It was another incredibly hands-on role. I was again knitting every day, developing designs and then working with factories in China to translate those ideas into finished garments.
It was here that I got work on some wonderfully creative projects, including the now-famous knit worn by Cameron Diaz in The Holiday. I spent hours hand-knitting the cable stitch design then driving the technicians nuts in knitting factory with the cable layout as it moves and wraps around the body!
The Faraway Gang
In 2018, after years working in the fashion industry and becoming a mum, I decided it was time to create something of my own.
I launched The Faraway Gang as a children's knitwear collection, colourful, characterful pieces inspired by adventure, storybooks, nostalgia. I wanted to create a joyful alternative to the sea of neutral colours that had become so prevalent in children's clothing. I worked with a British factory to create my first collection which was thrilling and terrifying in equal measures.
Since launching, The Faraway Gang has been recognised with four Junior Design Awards, something I am incredibly proud of. For me, the awards feel like an affirmation of the idea that inspired the brand in the first place: that knitwear can be beautifully designed, colourful, distinctive and made with real thought and care.
The journey since 2018 has taught us that these garments truly do tell stories of adventure, with many pieces now living their second or third life through the Preloved Collection, a natural extension of the brand's ethos that clothes should and can be treasured and enjoyed for years, not just seasons.
Our Knit Evolution
Over time, The Faraway Gang has naturally evolved. What first began as a children's clothing brand is growing into something much broader and going back to my knitting roots: a knitting brand for everyone.
The common thread being my love of texture, colour and making.
Going forward we are slowly phasing the ready-to-wear part of the business out to make room to design bigger, broader knitting pattern collections that can be made by you. The same Faraway Gang ethos, the same attention to detail, but in an accessible format for everyone.
There is something incredibly mindful about knitting as a hobby too. Knitting gives me a reason to slow down. It’s a chance to switch off from the constant to-do list in my head and focus on something simple: one stitch, then another, then another.
We spend so much of our lives consuming things that have already been made for us. There is a different kind of satisfaction in starting with nothing more than some yarn and a pattern and, over time, creating something tangible with your own hands.
You can see your progress. You can hold the finished piece. You can look at it and think, I made that.
I think that feeling matters.
I want to take all those years of experience and turn them into patterns that are clear, approachable and achievable. You don't need to be an expert. You don't need to knit perfectly. You just need to be willing to have a go. Because the joy is in the making.
For me, this new chapter brings everything together.
My love of colour.
My fascination with knitwear.
My years of designing.
And that simple joy I discovered all those years ago, taking yarn and turning it into something beautiful.
Because ultimately, I don't just want to design clothes.
I want to help you make them.
By making instead of mass-producing, we are embracing a slower, more sustainable way of dressing the family. And a handmade jumper? It’s more than clothing, it’s a keepsake, an heirloom, a story passed down with pride and stitches full of love.
I believe clothing should tell a story, and what better story than one you’ve made yourself? Every stitch holds your time, your energy and your creativity. I believe this to be incredibly special.
