The Woolmark Company has partnered with fashion designer Edward Crutchley for the first guest curation on the company’s wool sourcing platform, The Wool Lab.
A premier collection of curated innovative yarns, fabrics and processes dedicated to wool, The Wool Lab is available in physical and digital formats, boasting a selection of wool textiles and swatches from across the world and allows for direct connection to suppliers.
Crutchley, winner of the 2019 International Woolmark Prize, launched The Wool Lab’s debut guest curation featuring an exploration of global cultural references and aspects of material culture, grounded in deep appreciation of artisanal textiles.
Wool is not a novel fiber for Crutchley, who was raised on a sheep farm in England’s Yorkshire Dales. However, the fiber’s innate versatility and enduring potential compelled him to source material and create designs that extend from wool weavers in his native Yorkshire to developers in Japan and Southeast Asia.
“To celebrate both the marvelous natural fiber that wool is, in all its diversity, and the outstanding work of these suppliers has been such a pleasure,” Crutchley said. “You will find things ranging from sculptural bouclé coatings to lurex embellished jacquard to the latest in 3D printing technology. My intention from the start was to show how much can be done with wool, how we can look beyond the traditional into the future.”
Printed, woven, knitted or embroidered, Crutchley highlights wool’s diversity through contemporary stylistic expression combining traditional and cutting-edge techniques to realize the full potential of wool. Designers and brands looking to source Crutchley’s curated wool fabrics and yarns can do so for free via The Wool Lab. Sourcing is available online via The Wool Lab digital or one-on-one viewings of the physical editions can be made via The Woolmark Company and at upcoming trade shows, including Pitti Filati Florence, Premiére Vision Paris and Milano Unica in Milan.
The Woolmark Company is a subsidiary of Australian Wool Innovation, a not-for-profit enterprise that conducts research, development and marketing along the worldwide supply chain for Australian wool on behalf of about 60,000 woolgrowers that help fund the company.