The Wool Wire | July 3, 2025
Coming unraveled in Venice, going local in Australia, and praising minimalism, Merino swimwear, and rigid insulation.
News snippets from the wool world
Hello, my friends,
My, what a hot summer we're having. I hope you have a pond, lake, stream, bay, ocean, or pool nearby where you can cool off from time to time. A garden sprinkler works wonders.
And men, should you have £210 burning a hole in your pocket, why not give Sheep Inc's 100% Merino swim shorts a try?
...their latest breakthrough: The Merino Swimshorts — crafted entirely from Reda Active 100% ZQ-certified Merino wool, with a Yarnaway™ biodegradable lining that leaves no trace, no microplastics, and no compromises. This is swimwear, reimagined.
Jim Borneman
Caught in the middle
Speaking of reimagining things, the trade wars launched by the current U.S. administration against its global trade partners may have had unintended consequences. The Australian Fashion Council is taking a hard look at its own trade vulnerabilities and reimagining what domestic manufacturing could look like.
Currently, the Australian Fashion Council estimates that 97% of the country's clothing is made overseas. They've been pinched in the trade war, with most of the country's wool and cotton processed in China, while a good percentage of their sales growth has come from the U.S. market.
While it's still not certain how much can realistically be done, it's encouraging to see such top-down support for a national manufacturing strategy.
VAnalysis by Virginia Trioli
From rags to riches
This next story proves that Australia's textile innovators are serious about rebooting their domestic manufacturing. It also picks up on something a mill worker told me years ago when I asked him what he thought the best yarn was. Without missing a beat, he answered, "Wool and cotton, 50/50 blend." He went on to explain how each fiber compensated for the other's weaknesses, and that, from an everyday comfort and wearability standpoint, there was nothing better.
Our Australian textile innovators have found a way to make a beautiful, fine yarn out of the shorter bits of Merino fleece that usually have little value. The secret is the addition of, ding ding ding, you guessed it, cotton!
Their mission is to prove that Australia could handle textile production from paddock to fashion rack entirely on home soil. The secret lies in those short wool fibres called “locks,” which make up just 3-5% of Merino fleece but are usually considered the poor cousins of premium wool. By blending South Australian locks with Queensland cotton, the team created surprisingly fine yarn that’s already been tested in prototype T-shirts, jumpers, and pants.
Simran Gill
Here's to a fabric-first, function-first future
For decades, we've benefited from inexpensive clothing subsidized by a system that places its human and environmental burden on other countries. Clothing made domestically tends to cost more, but that price is usually far closer to what we should've been paying all along.
But do we really need the mountains of clothing we've been purchasing? Wouldn't it make more sense to invest in far fewer pieces that are made to last, from quality materials?
I'm happy to report that others have been thinking this too. I enjoyed this article about the "fabric-first, function-first" minimalism movement that may be our future.
Arisekola Muritala
Sooner or later, wool is the best insulator
Most of the wool insulation I've seen so far has been in thick, pliable batts. But the UK-based Wull Tech is working on a new form of rigid wool insulation—and they just got a nice funding boost to continue the work.
The funding will enable Wull Technologies to move towards full commercialisation of its LAMDA panels - made from Welsh mountain sheep wool using a patent-pending, plastic-free process.Manufactured in Manchester, the panels offer a recyclable and biodegradable alternative to mineral wool insulation, which is energy-intensive to produce.
Welsh farmers get paid better money for their wool, people get to live in healthier buildings, everyone wins.
Daniel Wild
Coming undone...on purpose
And finally, now that the wedding is over and the jets and megayachts and paparazzi have cleared out of Venice, I hope you'll consider visiting the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale—if only to visit the Serbian pavilion and experience the Unraveling exhibit for a few minutes.
Dreamy knitted panels of undyed wool have been suspended across the ceiling. As you stand under the flowing canopy, solar-powered motors slowly, slowly, slowly unravel the entire thing, stitch by stitch.
ravail khan I designboom
When the exhibition closes on November 23, 2025, there will be no installation to pack up—just some bobbins of wool yarn ready for their next project.
On that note, I'll let you go. Thanks as always for your readership and your support.
Until next time,
Clara
