For those who care about the environment, wool is by far one of the most sustainable and durable materials to use for clothing and home textiles. As well as being warm, long-lasting and sustainable, in Western Europe, the UK and Ireland, woollen clothing also has a rich cultural heritage.
From homeware like blankets to clothing like winter coats, jumpers and socks, wool will keep you warm while avoiding the large impact made on the environment by man made materials. Vogue says that buying less but better-quality clothing is one of the best things that you can do to reduce your carbon footprint.
Supporting local heritage
But one of the less championed reasons to buy wool is that you can also support local communities and heritage by buying certain products, like an Irish fishermans sweater from https://shoparan.com/mens-aran-sweaters/mens-fisherman-sweaters. Traditional Aran sweaters, which originated in the Aran islands, have strong links to the community and its heritage, and are still made there using native Aran wool.
Cornwall heritage
Similarly in England, it’s hard to think about the beautiful county of Cornwall without imagining the sea, and in turn, the beautiful fishing communities that dot its coast. While the fishing community in Cornwall has shrunk, the Cornish have kept its spirit alive.
One of the ways of honouring their heritage is by creating and donning the traditional navy crew neck jumpers known as ‘ganseys’ which are often adorned with beautiful patterns alluding to waves and the sea. As well as a strong fishing community, fishermen’s wives also built a strong textile community while fishermen were out to sea and many families had their own pattern for their ganseys. A sad reason for this was that often fisherman lost at sea could be identified by the pattern on their gansey.