These wool producers aim to revive the value of natural fiber in Europe

On a breezy autumn day, the unforgiving rolling hills outside Rome set the stage for an awkward gathering. Bol producers, designers, activists and model, player and farmer Isabella RossHllini and her daughter met at the Ilaria Ventirini Fendi farm – to see her in the top tier of fashion, but to completely re-purpose.

“It’s difficult to produce wool in Italy,” said Fendi, who keeps 600 sheep at his agricultural meeting, or working tourist farm, on the outskirts of the capital. “It’s become a waste product. You can no longer do the whole chain. We need to change ideas – restart the economy.”

Outside of Europe and North America, the picture is bleak: Wool – a water biodegradable fiber that naturally regulates body temperature – is often burned or thrown away because processing costs exfough.

That is why Fendi could host the first forum of the World Hope Forum, a network dedicated to showing that wool production can be local, ethical and circular.

From dirty to decent

Fendi knows how to be comfortable from within. The youngest daughter of an Italian fashion family, she left the previous company and found Carmina Campus – “singing fields” – a label designed for reuse and renewal.

The gathering comes just a few months before the launch of the UN’s International Year of Rangelands and Teachers, in 2026, underlining the urgency of protecting traditional settlement cultures and natural resources – and the first month of EU Focus Group With new and sustainable ways to help farmers renew the European wool value chain.

Among the artists present was Blátnaid Gallikar, the founder of Ireland’s Galway Woop, which revives traditional Irish wool – almost wiped out by cheap Asian imports often sold as Irish – and won an EU award to strengthen rural communities. Gallagher’s aim in the EU is to push for real clear fiber regulations across Europe.

“We hope the EU will give the consumer a chance to know how the fiber grows,” said Gallageher. “Then maybe we can reduce our dependence on monoculture with wool from China ending up in heritage products across Europe and better supporting farmers.”

His optimism is shared by Netherlands-based Canadian designer Cynthia Hathaway who has been campaigning to bring attention to European pastoral traditions.

With his bool identity – part protest, part walk – he leads the “gentle crowds walk” with sheep in the cities, a kind of slow revival to highlight the natural and cultural value of wool and the culture of wool and culture.

“Wanted – The migration of seasonal flocks – is one of the oldest climate solutions we have, “said Hathaway. His next trip, scheduled to arrive in several days, will continue to end in Brussels where the ongoing policy production will continue.

Gallagher says he believes the world is on the verge of returning to natural fibers – but he and others here warn that more protections are needed for producers and animals.

Today, Less than one percent of the world’s textile fibers come from wool. The decline means local house-type jobs in Europe and North America have all but disappeared.

The production of wool weight in China, Australia and other countries has caused global prices, forcing European and North American mills to close and leaving small producers unable to compete.

“Farmers get five cents,” says Reina Ovinge, who left fast fashion after 30 years to start a sustainable stable in the Netherlands. “In the 1980s, it was 25 euros. The type of house in Europe was not used or set.

Ovinge’s answer has been to build his supply chain smaller

The process works on community effort and patience, he says, with individual orders taking about four to five weeks.

“That’s right,” she said. “It’s how we slow down.”

Slowdown fee ‘required for initial investment

Isabella Roslellini and her daughter, Elettra Wiederman, run a farm of 28 Mothers in Brookhaven, Ny opened more than eleven, now it is a home to risk sheep and chickens in danger of growing organic vivired vegetables.

Next to the cooking classes, knitting meetings and nature creation sessions, one step of the farm in fashion, a program that discriminates two young designers with the heritage of the farm to create sweeters that are kind.

“It’s the same with the farm-to-table movement. People are very invested in that movement because they see when they buy a cucumber: I’m supporting the earth or beauty,” said Weegemann. “All things that help the community grow.”

Wiedemann says that one of his proudest achievements is getting the word “farm to fashion” into vogue and everyday women, where young designers will see it.

However, says RossLLINI, without low processing costs and public-private partnerships to support producers, fashion farming can remain a small business.

“If you’re very successful and have an order for 30,000 sweats, you can’t achieve that using organic wool. It’s a slow process,” RossHlini said.

Composer Philip Fimmano, who organized the event of the World Hope Forum with the Dutch Meture Forecaster Li Edelkoort, emphasizes the need of the patient, to invest in long-term projects like this.

“Instead of startup money, we need slowdown money,” he said.

Circle in design

However, there are other wool producers who are growing steadily, although not with virgin wool.

Matteo ManteLassi, CEO of Manteco, a Mill founded by his grandfather in 1943 in Prato, Central Italy, believes that Recycled Wool can make the best virgin fibers.

His company’s Mwool is made from carefully selected consumer clothes, sorted by color and processed without the use of dyes or added water, so that it is both traceable and circular. According to the company, Mwool produces 65.6 percent less CO2 emissions than wool, while revuwool – fiberle from the voln vool weaving process – cuts up to 99.2 percent, using very little water.

“Until about 20 years ago, recycled wool was seen as cheap,” says Mantellassi. “Now it’s beautiful – and it saves energy, water and chemicals.”

Last year, Manteco processed 68,000 kilos of offcuts for garment manufacturers, winning the climate project of the year. He started working with the European Parliament on the Testable Texteile policy, which promoted a carbon tax on products with a large carbon and environmental footprint to increase their price.

“We need to educate young designers,” Mantellassi said. “They don’t always know what fabrics can be used for what. We have to give the information back to the beginning of the chain.”