Why doesn't your wool come from France?

There’s something absurd about the textile industry today: we import wool from the other side of the world, even though most of our sheep farmers can no longer find buyers for their wool! Often, the proceeds from selling it don’t even cover the cost of shearing. Yet, back in the day, before the advent of cotton and synthetic fabrics, it was precisely these farmers who provided clothing for the French people.

But today, French livestock farmers are facing two challenges:

• In terms of wool volume and price, it is difficult for French sheep farmers to compete with the massive herds in Australia or New Zealand, which specialize in wool
• The types of wool consumers are looking for have changed: today, they want very fine merino wool (that doesn’t itch), which comes from sheep in the Southern Hemisphere thanks to selective breeding. However, since the 19th century, French sheep have been bred primarily for meat and milk, at the expense of wool fineness (even Arles merino wool is coarser than merino wool from the Southern Hemisphere).

However, that may be changing: there are pioneers like Ardelaine and Longo Maï—and, more recently, Laines Paysannes—who are managing to revive markets for French wool, for example by creating products where softness is less of a priority: rugs, mattresses, or slightly rustic sweaters...

And what about Loom? We'd love to offer a slightly rustic sweater made from French wool someday. We hope that happens soon!