Description:

The Wool Hoop is a sustainable textile lighting range designed to elevate the potential of New Zealand's underutilised strong (coarse) wool industry while providing a premium solution for interior spaces. This project repurposes coarse wool—typically undervalued and relegated to insulation or carpet production—into a high-performance textile product. The Wool Hoop embodies a deep commitment to sustainable design, revitalising New Zealand’s wool sector and supporting local farmers by paying above-market rates for their wool.

New Zealand’s strong wool industry faces a crisis, with farmers receiving low returns for their coarse wool, often unable to cover the costs of shearing. This undervaluation has led to wool being treated as a by-product of the meat industry, leaving it largely underutilised. Simultaneously, the country is grappling with a growing waste crisis, with textile waste contributing significantly to landfill. Synthetic fibres, especially plastics, dominate many product categories, including lighting, exacerbating waste and environmental pollution. This context inspired the creation of the Wool Hoop, a solution that embraces wool’s incredible properties while offering a sustainable alternative to synthetics.

The Wool Hoop is the result of a material-led approach to design. The development process began with sourcing wool directly from Palliser Ridge Farm in the Wairarapa, ensuring a single-origin supply that allowed for transparency and traceability. Early experiments included hand dyeing, hand knitting, and testing digital weaving technologies. Ultimately, knitting emerged as the ideal method for mass production, enabling scalability while maintaining wool’s unique texture and performance qualities. After extensive trials with multiple manufacturers and machines, the team refined the yarn to work with industrial knitting machines and developed the signature honeycomb-knit structure. This structure beautifully diffuses light, showcases wool’s natural texture, and enhances the acoustic properties of the textile.

Wool’s inherent benefits—such as its ability to absorb up to 96% of harmful VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and its flame resistance—make it an ideal material for interior products. The Wool Hoop not only improves indoor air quality but also provides a functional solution for noise reduction. The Wool Hoop’s soft, tactile qualities bring warmth and comfort to any interior, elevating a simple lighting fixture into a statement piece that celebrates wool as a sustainable, high-performance material for modern spaces.

This product also promotes a circular design philosophy. Wool’s biodegradability ensures that it decomposes naturally within three months, unlike synthetic materials that persist in landfills for centuries. The Wool Hoop’s textile production process is entirely based in New Zealand, from farm to product, supporting local wool growers and revitalising the textile manufacturing industry, which has been in decline for many years. By embracing a hyper-local, traceable supply chain, the Wool Hoop reduces its environmental impact while supporting fair wages and sustainable practices within the local economy.

Ultimately, the Wool Hoop represents a new era for sustainable textile design in New Zealand, combining innovation, sustainability, and craftsmanship. It challenges the traditional use of textiles in lighting design, setting a new benchmark for responsible, locally sourced, and high-performance products in the design industry.