It ain't fashion, if it ain't sustainable

Wool

Packaging Alternative / Woola

2 January 2024

2 minutes

Woola takes material that otherwise gets thrown away – waste wool – and turn it into a sustainable alternative to plastic for packing fragile stuff safely.

Estonian Starup Woola Raises €2.5m to Replace Plastic Packaging with Wool

Estonian startup Woola that creates protective wool packaging by replacing plastic has received another round of funding of 2.5 million euros.

Staff Writer

Natural Fibres / Wool City

1 November 2023

5 minutes

Given the significant portion of the Earth’s surface dedicated to producing food and fibre and the livelihoods, culture, traditions, and communities bound up in farming, herding and land stewardship, there is so much value that gets overlooked, beyond the product, in living on and off the land.

Towards Nature Positive: How Italy's 'Wool City' can Inspire a Natural Fibre Revolution

Biella, located in the northern Italian region of Piedmont, is home to Italy’s wool textile industry. This traditional and iconic city now hosts the annual Natural Fibres Connect conference, from where texfash.com gets this report.

Liesl Truscott

Analysis

Tracing Wool / New Partnership

17 February 2023

2 minutes

In December 2021, Haelixa marked wool fibres with their DNA tracing solution. There are infinite DNA markers that could be produced and used to indicate a specific origin, supply chain, material, or particular collection.

Haelixa and Woolmark Launch Project to Trace Origin of Wool with Vitale Barberis Canonico

In an effort to bring about sustainable solutions to global supply chains, a project is on to trace Australian wool fibres right up to the final fabric.

Staff Writer

Wool / Swimwear

21 December 2022

3 minutes

Is it time to rethink wearing wool as you head to the beach this summer?

Wool Swimsuits Used to Be Standard Beachwear – Is It Time to Bring Them Back?

With concern mounting over microplastics and the search for sustainable options, the woollen swimsuits of the past could be the swimwear of the future.

Lorinda Cramer

Feature

Climate Action / Market Grant

17 September 2022

3 minutes

Growing concerns about textile-derived microplastics, land-use impacts, and human rights have prompted an industry-wide shift to seek natural fibre sources with verified benefits to land and climate.

USDA Grants $30 million for Building Climate-Smart Cotton and Wool Markets

The US Department of Agriculture has granted $30 million to support the expansion of climate-smart wool and cotton production on 135 farms and ranches spread across 2.1 million acres.

Staff Writer

Climate Crisis / Fallout

8 September 2022

3 minutes

Natural fibres are heavily-traded commodities, and supply chain disruptions are causing significant economic losses as freight costs remain high and deliveries are delayed.

Ruined by Drought, Wiped Out by Floods: Global Natural Fibre Production Set to Drop in 2022

The twin climate disasters—the drought in Texas, US and the floods in Pakistan—have ensured that the world natural fibre production will be down by 1.1 million tonnes this year, the Discover Natural Fibres Initiative (DNFI) has reported in its latest monthly update on the segment.

Special Correspondent

Wool / British Wool

28 June 2022

2 minutes

British Wool (formerly British Wool Marketing Board) is owned by approximately 35,000 sheep farmers in the UK.

British Wool Invests in Future of Wool Grading on Scottish Borders

British Wool has purchased a new site in Selkirk and will be moving the organisation's Galashiels team and operations to this more modern and spacious environment to handle the increasing capacity of wool from this region.