Wool And The Blog - in English

Lima, May 2008. I see in my notebook that the project still hasn’t been brought into existence, but already we should know more about its roots. How about its Peruvian roots? Those that are made from wool. Those of Rosie, our reigning artistic director and committed to the future of Wool and the Gang connection. A real natural force.

We organize a small team with light bags: our two inspired designers, Lisa and Carolyn, and are two artistic directors, Antoine and Rosie. The first meeting is in Lima. Wool merchants think we’re crazy. The wool we’re looking for doesn’t even exist in the catalogues. Their attitude is half-hearted, sort of “we’ll get back to you”… Doesn’t matter. Forget about us, we’re only interested in working with enthusiasm.

We catch another plane for the mountains towards the east. There, in a top secret place, we find what we’re looking for. The CRAZY SEXY balls of wool can be made. We visit the factories, ask questions about everything, look for solutions, and delve our hands into the barrels of virgin wool in which we would love to fall asleep. The smiles on the faces of the machine operators tell us plenty about the country we are discovering.

Further on, in the islands of Lake Titicaca, we finally understand the heart of the reason for the wisdom and kindness of our host Rosie. The villages perched above the lake live in tempo with the sun. Hundreds of types of potato are grown; men knit with four needles, with the balls of wool in their pockets. We drink coca maté to give our heads relief… the lake horizon is also calming.

And then, once more on the roads, the short-grassed desert, the trail leading just to the village having a festival. Children, smiles, a chance to be part of their life for a little longer. We come together to look, to take our time in the shade of Bolivia, before Paris, London, NY and the crazy, sexy life.