FEATURE
From waste to wonder
How Neuthread is stitching together the future of fashion from Tees Valley
In a fashion industry dominated by excess and exclusion, a bold new brand is quietly revolutionising everything from the shop floor to the catwalk – and it’ s doing so from an unlikely location, Tees Valley.
Meet Neuthread – the neurodivergent-led fashion house born from a charity’ s retail operation and now backed by a gamechanging £ 1.5m grant from The National Lottery Community Fund Climate Action Fund.
The project, spearheaded by Daisy Chain’ s Neeraj Sharma and Johnathon Pickard, fuses sustainability and business acumen to challenge fashion’ s waste crisis and lack of autistic and neurodivergent inclusion. And it’ s gaining serious traction.
“ We’ re delighted to finally be able to unveil this project and incredibly grateful to National Lottery players for backing such a groundbreaking initiative,” says Johnathon, director of business development at Daisy Chain and co-founder of Neuthread.
“ This funding allows us to take a bold idea and turn it into real-world impact. We’ re proud to finally be making this vision a reality and can’ t wait to get started.”
FROM CHARITY RAGS TO COUTURE RICHES Neuthread began life tackling a very practical problem- textile waste from Daisy Chain’ s vast charity retail operations.
What started as an internal solution quickly became a creative explosion. Discarded garments became statement pieces. Unsellable fabric became runwayworthy couture.
Then came London Fashion Week, where Neuthread became the first UK charity to showcase its own clothing brand on the official schedule.
Now, with seven-figure funding secured, Neuthread is building the UK ' s first neurodivergent-led eco-manufacturing fashion factory in Tees Valley.
In addition to producing clothing, it will produce opportunity in the form of up to 12 new jobs and more than 100 annual volunteer placements, all while pioneering a new circular economy model rooted in neurodivergent innovation.
FASHION POWERED BY NEURODIVERSITY Every design is shaped by neurodivergent creatives whose problem-solving instincts, attention to detail and radical perspectives are woven into the brand’ s identity.
Neeraj and Johnathon have developed a blueprint that doesn ' t just accommodate different ways of thinking, it thrives on them.
With designer Cara Baumann, who alongside Sharma has volunteered her time since the beginning, the two now lead the brand’ s creative direction, crafting a visual identity that challenges norms and reimagines value from the thread up.
“ We know autistic people face some of the highest unemployment rates in the UK,” says Neeraj, CEO of Daisy Chain.
“ Neuthread shows what’ s possible when you build a business around their strengths. This isn’ t just about fashion, it ' s about demonstrating the creativity and innovation that comes from neurodivergent minds, and turning that into meaningful jobs and careers.”
50