The Woolmark Company presents The Wool Lab SS14

+ To be unveiled at Pitti Uomo from 8th to 11th January, the leading guide to the most inspiring trends and best wool products from all over the world.

The Wool Lab, both an inspirational tool and a sourcing guide, is created by The Woolmark Company in collaboration with the most innovative and quality-oriented spinners and weavers from all over the world. It is a collection of the most interesting wool products, commercially available, in line with the leading fashion and textile trends.

The tool has been created for designers, manufacturers, retailers, fashion and apparel brands and to all the professionals of the fashion and textile industry, to educate and inspire them about the infinite potential of wool, and to provide a concrete sourcing service, putting them in contact with the world’s best wool spinners and weavers.

After the kick off in Pitti Uomo, in January 2013, The Wool Lab SS14 will be presented at the most important trade shows in the world, through the global network of the company, and through one to one meetings with the top designers, brands, manufacturers and retailers.

The Wool Lab SS 14 proposes 7 inspirational themes:

1. NEW VICTORIAN

Inspirations
The theme is inspired by the new Victorian style of the American twenties, to the American dream pulsating with the energy of jazz music, to the love of life expressed by a smart creative dress code. Atmosphere is relaxed and lively, with gentlemen and ladies elegantly yet not conventionally dressed and communicating a decontracté mood, with personal touches and unexpected details characterizing each outfit. The colour palette is very conservativemade of basic shades, such as beige, ivory, black, blue and grey.

Materials
100% fine Merino wool, wool mixes with noble fibres such as silk and mohair, celebrating Cool Woolr a sunny and fresh elegance. Classic weaves and patterns. Pin stripes, Checks. Light and medium weight. Worsted circular knit, crêpe yarns, micro effects.

2. SALON DE THÉ

Inspirations
A colour-focused and feminine trend, inspired by the soft and elegant atmospheres of Parisian thé salons and cafés, during the 50s and 60s, when women used to dress in light and dense colours. Refined and elegant femininity, with a sophisticated sense of colour, and a taste for romantic shapes and volumes, mixing “garden party” details with inspirations from Sofia Coppola’s “Marie Antoinette”.
The colour palette is inspired by the creamy pastels of macarons and includes shades of green, pink, yellow, violet, cream and caramel.

Materials
100% fine merino wool, wool/silk and wool/viscose in classic and sophisticated weaves and patterns: plain weave, ottoman, piquet, light double face, crêpe sablé, ajouré, natté. Yarns: fine crêpe wool, wool/viscose, wool/silk fresh touch.

3. THE DREAMER

Inspirations
The theme is inspired by the mythic movie by Herzog “Fitzcarraldo” with Klaus Kinsky in the role of an intense businessman and adventurer, full of dreams, whose spirit is perfectly expressed by an epic sentence of the film: "Those who dream can move mountains". Fitzcarraldo as an icon of the last true dreamers, artists at the beginning of the 1900s that have put primary emphasis on the realization of their dreams. The “lived” elegance of Fitzcarraldo is the leitmotif of the theme.

The mood is romantic, decadent and of timeless elegance, with the iconic mannish three piece being the most representative outfit. The overall atmosphere is a mix of nature and strong feelings and emotions, a “Sturm und Drang” revisited with a tropical touch, for climatic needs.

The colour palette is made of natural shades of grey, ivory, cream and brown. 

Materials
Wool is in 100% or mixed with vegetal fibres such as linen, hemp, nettle or cotton to give a sort of vintage and worn look, which is also emphasized by the weaves and patterns of the fabrics that include herringbone, Glen check. Lightly crushed and washed effects. 4. CLEAN

Inspirations
Antifashion theme inspired by the minimalist and conceptual style of the 798 Art District of Beijing, that houses a thriving artistic community, among 50-year old decommissioned military factory buildings of unique architectural style. Often compared with New York's Greenwich Village or SoHo, the 798 area is still today the most influential cultural spot in China, gathering artists, designers, performers, art galleries and architecture studios, representing the “intelligentsia” of modern China.

The mood is intellectual and sophisticated; volumes are de-structured and fluid, experimenting with detailed functionalities, without defined boundaries between mens and womenswear. The colour palette is clean and sober, made of natural shades of greys, ivory, brown, beige and black. The look is characterized by layering and contrasts between structured fabrics and very fine, almost transparent knits and jersey.

Materials
100% Merino wool or blended with silk, linen and cotton. Fabrics are usually very light and surfaces are sometimes irregular. Weaves are often airy and patterns reflect the neutrality of the theme: gauze, crepe, plain weave. Dry feeling, lightly washed. Plain jersey, airy ajourè. Multi light-layers.

5. WEARING ART

Inspirations
Recalling the cultural movements and avant-garde of the 1960-70s, dresses are no longer simple clothing, but works of wearable art. An escape from the standard, to combat conventionality and austerity in hard times. An explosion of colours, fantasies, prints and dyeing effects, displayed in an intense, energetic colour palette. Volumes are fluid, an invitation to freedom and movement. Strong elements of handcraft are also included.

Materials
100% fine Merino wool or wool mixed with cotton and viscose, for multicolour printed or woven fabrics. Yarns for knitwear are mainly thick, fancy, printed, mouliné. Wool Jersey is here very important.

6. ELLIS ISLAND

Inspirations
This theme is inspired by the look, strength and hopes of those people who moved to new frontiers, looking for a better life. The mood is that of an urban yet rustic elegance, inspired by the style of immigrants of the 1940s and 50s. The colour palette is made of grey, black, beige and blue shades, on wide-legged pants and loose shirts, for a relaxed look, sometimes completed with more formal blazers.

Materials
In 100% light and fresh Merino wool or wool/cotton blends, the weaves and patterns of the fabrics embody privileged old drapery tastes and stripes, with worn and washed effects, characterizing jersey and knitwear included in the theme.

7. CONTADINO

Inspirations
Inspired by the rustic yet elegant style of the Italian countryside workers of the 1940s, who used to dress with specific rules of formality and distinction, in a more refined derivation of Mediterranean taste.

Pants, blazers, gilets and shirts for men, rounded long skirts and blouses for women are the iconic uniforms of this kind of dressing, which expressed the dignity of humble farmers and country workers.

The theme is in line with a lifestyle trend that celebrates rustic living, raw materials, country and genuine goods and food, “KM 0” and “back to earth” philosophy, encompassing interior design, architecture, food and beverage, hospitality and fashion. The colour palette is natural and “earthy” including all the shades of country fields and products with a predominance of grey, browns, black and beige with touches of red, blue, green and cream. The look is worn and washed.

Materials
100% wool or blended with cotton and other vegetal fibers. Traditional prints on women’s dresses. Pin-stripes and seersucker, drills. Sunshot effect. The fabrics and knits look is mostly worn and washed.