Exhibition: Wool (Re)discovered

Why Wool?

Wool is one of the oldest fibres known to humankind, yet in the Netherlands alone more than 1.5 million kilos are discarded each year. Once valued and celebrated for its diverse characteristics as a local material, wool is now often overlooked or treated as a by-product.

Wool: (Re)discovered invited us to pause and look closer at this material we think we know. Wool carries stories of agriculture, animal welfare and more-than-human entanglements. It is both ancient and ever-renewing: a fibre that has clothed and protected us, inscribed cultural identities, and bound communities to landscapes.

Today, in a world searching for regenerative practices, wool offers an entry point into questions of care, craft and culture. From forgotten local fibres to global ecosystems, we challenge ourselves to revalue what is near at hand and to relate differently to what is too often cast aside.

Nothing is waste. Everything holds potential. Our challenge is to truly see what is already there.

For nine days, from 18th to the 26th of October, our lab transformed into a place to explore wool from multiple perspectives. Designers, experts, and visitors met through an interactive exhibition, workshops, and talks. 

Sybrand Jansen

New Fashion Talents Working with Wool

This year we selected four talents whose approach as fashion designers reimagines the craftsmanship of wool. We selected these designers as their collections reveal the potential of wool through their various approaches, ranging from identity to forgotten tradition. We also selected the work of third year students from ArtEZ with Collectie Arnhem TWENTYFIVE, showcasing the work of soon to be graduates. All five collections made use of innovative methods and resourcefulness as an approach to regarding wool, whether it comes from the highest quality yarn to waste fibres. We go more into depth about each of these fashion designers collections in our Talent Interviews. Read more about it here:

Eva Popa Amsterdam Fashion Institute – BA Fashion and Textile Technologies @knitting.is.hot

Jaden Xinyu Li Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp – MA Fashion Design @jadenbyjadenli

Sybrand Jansen Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp – MA Fashion Design @sybrand

Shushanik Droshakiryan WAAG TextileLab Amsterdam – Interdisciplinary Research Project @shushanikdroshakiryan

Collectie Arnhem TWENTYFIVE ArtEZ University of the Arts Arnhem – BA Fashion Design @collectiearnhem

NOOF DDW 2025 Partners:
het Cultuurfonds, Meester Koetsier Foundation, Cultuur Eindhoven, Brainport Eindhoven, 1% for the Planet, The Social Hub, Het Goed, Bestwool

Eva Popa

Written by Haiko Huvenaars, 
Edited by Pollyanna Moss and Dina Beganović
Photography by Anwyn Howarth and Rechard Motieram