How Irish wool became cool: from Rathlin Island rope to JW Anderson’s Wicklow yarn

Description

Rathlin Island rope

The only inhabited offshore island of Northern Ireland was the focus of a pioneering initiative led by professor Alison Gault and Anna Duffy of the Belfast School of Art, University of Ulster. Through a co-design process involving local community and farmers, and starting with sheep shearing on the island, the fleeces were sorted, graded, scoured, spun and the raw fibres converted into yarn, producing a range of products from what was originally a category three waste product. They experimented with natural dyeing to create a Rathlin-inspired colour archive, prototyped biodegradable ropes to address microplastic pollution and support local kelp farming, as well as creating Aran and Fair Isle knitwear designs using the local wool. So, the fleece was traced from farm to fashion.

“Rathlin’s sheep and their coarse fleece is typically dismissed by commercial textile supply chains,” says Gault. As a result, farmers face high shearing costs of £2.50-£3.50 per sheep, yet receive as little as 16p-34p per kilo for Blackface wool. “This project aims to change this by reframing Blackface wool as a valuable, place specific material.” Gault’s work with Mourne Textiles, and the establishment of a small-scale spinning mill, demonstrates how coastal communities can integrate local ecologies and economies through design.