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Wool (Re)discovered
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Sheep wool was presented in a new light in the Dutch Design Week exhibition Wool (Re)discovered, which aimed to get visitors talking about Europe's unloved fleeces.
One-and-a-half million kilograms of wool are discarded each year in the Netherlands alone, Eindhoven-based organisation New Order of Fashion told visitors in the opening text of its exhibition.
The organisation went on to explore different ways designers and craftspeople are working with the material.
Located at New Order of Fashion's makerspace in the Strijp-S creative district, the exhibition brings together inventive garments from emerging designers, displays of local knitting, and hands-on stations where visitors can experience aspects of the wool production process or bring in clothing for repairs.
There is also a talks space where cute abstracted stuffed sheep flop over tiered bench seating, a display on Peruvian alpaca farming and a work of "garment vivisection" that pushes back against the use of animal materials.
This patchwork of sights represents different aspects of the contemporary conversation around wool among proponents of sustainable textiles.
Although wool garments in shops may be expensive, they are usually produced from specially bred sheep such as Merino, mainly in the southern hemisphere. Europe's smaller flocks of sheep have coarser wool and are typically only used for meat and dairy.