Wool Week – the launch of the Campaign for Wool (CfW) has seen major backing from the retail world, aroused amazing interest at consumer level and seen the rallying of the international textile industry to put wool back in the spotlight.
With huge support from over 50 brands, 400 retail stores and thousands of carpet showrooms, the wool industry has been given the best opportunity it has ever had, according to Ian Hartley, CEO of the British Wool Marketing Board.
From Savile Row with its Field Day celebrations on Monday (11th), where sheep grazed on real freshly laid grass on the famously sartorial centre of tailoring to Chelsea Harbour Design Centre, Europe’s largest community of interior design studios, where there was an enormous Cat’s Cradle of red wool pinned with hanging swatches of different wool cloth in every colour and style to simple farm open days and arty craft galleries with visiting sheep and workshops.
An event held at Libertys of London in association with Rowan Yarns saw the young creative talent of Royal College of Art students put British Wool in to stunning fashion. Then the sheep heads of British sheep breeds were deemed the ’Ewesual Suspects’ by Harvey Nichols of Leeds as they put a wanted sign above each sheep and urged their customers to find the different breeds they had featured throughout the store.
To cap it all, there was even a message from the future King of England, the message from the Prince of Wales (who was in Delhi) - the Prince convened the Campaign in January - was received on Monday morning, thanking everyone for all their support and wishing everyone a wonderful week.
"It really has had an amazing effect, it has both inspired new interest and revitalised long standing users of wool. The CfW has created a new dawn for the fibre in fashion, interiors and the built environment and shown that if we work together with our global colleagues, we can give wool the future it deserves." Mr Hartley said.
