Sheep need to be shorn at least once a year for healthy and comfortable reasons. This happening plays a crucial role in the journey of wool. The technique of a shearer determines whether a fleece can be processed into textiles or not. They need to preserve the quality of the fleece and ensure that the fibers remain intact for further processing.
After collecting all the wool, the sorting process begins. Each fleece is carefully opened and every bit of straw, dirt or unusable parts are removed by hand. This is a time- and labor-intensive task, but a very crucial step in transforming raw wool into high-quality textiles.
The wool is washed and spun by @lafilatureduhibou, a pioneering micro-spinning mill near Namur. Since 2009, they’ve been transforming Belgian wool into high-quality yarns with precision and care. Their expertise and commitment to local craftsmanship make them an invaluable partner into our journey to revive Belgian wool.
The next step in the process: weaving test samples with yarns from different sheep breeds. This helps us to explore which fabrics are best suited for various applications. Our partner in this process is B&T Textilia, a Belgian weaving mill renowned for their expertise in high-end jacquard and plain fabrics.
Brand Philosophy
Belgian wool is abundant, yet nearly absent from our awareness.
What was once a proud textile material, deeply connected to our cultural heritage, is now often treated as waste.
When wool is worth less than the shearing itself, and cannot compete with cheap synthetic fibres or the low-cost production of major wool-exporting countries, we lose more than a resource: we lose craft, landscape, local economies, and connection.
What was once a proud textile material, deeply connected to our cultural heritage, is now often treated as waste.
When wool is worth less than the shearing itself, and cannot compete with cheap synthetic fibres or the low-cost production of major wool-exporting countries, we lose more than a resource: we lose craft, landscape, local economies, and connection.
BLÀT chooses a different perspective.
We see this wool not as a leftover, but as a local, renewable material with history and possibility.
Through our textiles — and just as importantly, through our ongoing research — we bring renewed value to a fiber that had been forgotten.
By sorting, washing, spinning, and weaving here in Belgium, we restore a chain that was almost broken.
Through our textiles — and just as importantly, through our ongoing research — we bring renewed value to a fiber that had been forgotten.
By sorting, washing, spinning, and weaving here in Belgium, we restore a chain that was almost broken.
BLÀT stands for revaluation, for slowness, for textiles and knowledge that are allowed to grow close to home again.