With colder winter ahead it makes sense that the United Kingdom is celebrating wool with its annual Campaign for Wool event this week. Some of the country’s leading designers have dabbled with the wintery material for the festivities.
Prince Charles founded the Campaign for Wool last year to boost the natural material’s popularity. Sales have slumped recently as more designers pass over wool for cheaper synthetics. However its supporters, including Vivienne Westwood, still believe in its appeal.
“Wool is one of the world’s great natural fibers, famous for its versatility and comfort: warm in winter, cool in summer,” Westwood explained. “I do believe that because it is such a luxury fabric that its status will increase. People will not want man-made fibers anymore and luxury will be seen in the great traditional, natural, fibers.“
Wool has been used for fabrics since around 4000 BC, but its contemporary face will be celebrated at the Wool Modern exhibit. The display at London’s La Galleria pairs wooly works from the archives of Yves Saint Laurent, Sonia Rykiel, and Thierry Mugler with exclusively designed pieces created by Westwood, Alexander McQueen , Burberry, Paul Smith, Mark Fast, and Vivienne Westwood. I’m particularly intrigued by Giles Deacon’s woolen eggs, which sound like a quirky tribute to Faberge.
There are more unique woolen items at Harvey Nichols, which will commemorate the festival with an installation of bespoke woolen purses. Fashion houses including Westwood, Burberry, Christian Louboutin, Anya Hindmarch, and Alexander McQueen created the handbags, which will be auctioned off at the end of the month. Proceeds from the auction will benefit the Prince’s Countryside Fund, an initiative which looks to make British farming more sustainable.
