Canadian Wool Month 2022

October 2022

This year’s Wool Month has taken us around Canada and the world to learn more about the wool value chain and the people who transform Canadian wool.

Canadian Wool Month 2022 featured projects in film, fashion, interiors, and fine art as well as a Trade Delegation to the United Kingdom.

THE FABRIC OF CANADA SHORT FILMS

In celebration of Wool Month 2022, and in partnership with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, The Campaign for Wool Canada and the Canadian Wool Council are proud to announce our short film series, The Fabric of Canada. 

These films tell four different stories about Canadian wool and the Canadians who transform it. Each video shows how Canadian wool’s unique properties lend it to endless possibilities. We also hear firsthand from voices from across the value chain about the role that wool plays in their lives.

 

FILM SCREENING

Wool Month kicked off in Toronto where we gave our supporters an exclusive screening of our Fabric of Canada videos before they were released to the public. The event marked the official premiere of the film series. The films were then released weekly through our social media channels.

 

Wool Month 2022 Fashion Project: H PROJECT BY HOLT RENFREW

Our Wool Month 2022 project was the release of our fourth Canadian designer capsule collection with H Project at Holt Renfrew. This project allowed us to promote Canadian-designed wool products to high-customers, thereby helping us revalue wool. The collection included luxurious and fully traceable Merino knitwear from LINE the Label, and a blanket designed by Indigenous artist Patrick Hunter.


LINE the Label

LINE has carved out a niche for itself in the Canadian fashion industry thanks to its timeless knitwear. For this year’s exclusive capsule collection in collaboration with H Project, the label’s sweaters have been knit using fully traceable yarns certified by the Responsible Wool Standard (RWS). Soft, natural, breathable, and biodegradable, this knitwear showcases LINE’s design DNA during Canadian Wool Month.


Patrick Hunter

Hailing from Red Lake, Ontario, Patrick Hunter is a Two-Spirit Ojibway artist and graphic designer whose blanket design for The Campaign for Wool celebrates his background and has been crafted using Responsible Wool Standard (RWS) certified wool. “Flowers are a symbol of unity for Great Lakes Indigenous cultures and are traditionally beaded onto apparel and accessories. The eagle feather is another important symbol, coming from the bird that communicates with the Creator; the discovery of such a feather indicates that you’ve earned the honour, or have endured a difficulty and emerged stronger.”.

 

Wool Month 2022 Interiors Project

In Vancouver, British Columbia, in partnership with Colin Campbell Carpets and Burritt Bros. Carpets & Floors, we hosted an event to celebrate Wool Month and showed our Fabric of Canada film, Coast Salish Weaving. The film tells the story of Hereditary Chief Janice George of the Squamish First Nation and her partner Willard “Buddy” Joseph. We also announced a partnership in which they will design a capsule collection of 100% Canadian wool rugs based upon traditional Coast Salish designs. The rugs will be available in mid-2023.

 

Wool Month 2022 Fine Art Project: the Group of Seven and Hooked Rugs Exhibition

In St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, we presented the Group of Seven and Hooked Rugs Exhibition. The exhibition represented the Campaign’s Wool Month 2022 fine art project. The Rug Hooking Guild of Newfoundland & Labrador created a set of rugs based on sketches of rugs of Canadian scenery by the Group of Sevens’ J.E.H. Macdonald. 

We were privileged to welcome The Hon. Judy Foote, Lieutenant Governor of Newfoundland and Labrador for the occasion in a nod to the project’s role as a legacy initiative of His Majesty King Charles III’s recent visit. The event also marked the debut of the fourth and final film in our Fabric of Canada documentary film series, The Knitters of Newfoundland & Labrador.

 

trade delegation to the united kingdom

As part of The Campaign for Wool’s 2022 Trade Delegation to the United Kingdom, our delegates travelled to Tellenby Farm in Devon, seeing the UK’s only superfine Merino farm. Tellenby Farm helps to debunk the myth that there are only certain climates where Merino sheep can be raised. This also opens up the possibility of Canada developing superfine wool.

 
 

To learn more or to get involved in next year’s Canadian Wool Month, please contact Matthew Rowe at mrowe@campaignforwool.ca.