Material · Culture · Ecology
“Materials as cultural memory, ecological
relations, and contemporary knowledge.”
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Felt Database
CW coming soon
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Material · Culture · Ecology
“Materials as cultural memory, ecological
relations, and contemporary knowledge.”
About
Archive
Felt Database
CW coming soon
Material Playground
Shanghai
2024
The research book
Herding Wool, Focus on Felt
Book design by Alice Monguzzi
2025
Design by Alice Monguzzi
2025
Book order from Here
The wool trade between Asia and Europe carries a long history of cultural exchange and commerce, tracing back to the origins of ancient Eurasian nomadic peoples. Today, however, the rise of synthetic fibers has caused a significant decline in wool prices, and the shrinking wool market has impacted animal husbandry, leading to economic losses for herders. In their research for the Herding Wool project, three designers discovered that the fashion industry focuses on only a few wool varieties prized for their softness and suitability for clothing. Meanwhile, most native sheep breeds are primarily raised for meat and dairy production, or in Europe for landscape management, resulting in the undervaluation of their wool.
In this project, the three designers collected fiber samples from 50 native livestock breeds across Switzerland and China through field research, while rediscovering the foundational practices of human expertise associated with wool.
They visited local wool communities, nomadic groups, and pastoral cooperatives to study and document diverse traditional processing techniques for native wools. By collaboratively developing experimental household items with these communities, they explored the potential of different indigenous wools—reimagining novel applications for this versatile material.