Faroese sheep roam on the islands freely, and they are perfectly equipped to withstand the harsh weather conditions all year round.
Woven in wool – slow fashion from the Faroe Islands Wanting to honour centuries-old traditions, Anja and Francesco Mazuhn set up the Nordic Wool Factory to restore appreciation for what they believe is one of the world’s best renewable materials, Faroese sheep’s wool. The company’s products are sold via showrooms in Germany and Denmark as well as an online shop that ships worldwide. By Ndéla Faye
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Photos: Sophie Valentin
The Faroe Islands, comprise 18 rocky islands in the middle of the North Atlantic. There is an old local saying here: “Ull er Føroya gull”, which means ‘wool is the Faroe Islands’ gold’. However, somewhere along the way, wool lost its value within the Faroese community. That is until Nordic Wool Factory came and saw the beauty of the material, which, due to a sheep population of 70,000, is abundant on the Faroe Islands. Nordic Wool Factory’s story began ten years ago in Berlin, where the Mazuhns 16
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Issue 162
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January 2024
lived at the time. One evening, the couple watched a documentary about the Faroe Islands, and were instantly struck by the islands’ beauty. “We were deeply impacted by the rugged island beauty we saw. We saw a place where life was happening at nature’s pace, and there were more sheep than people. It sounded perfect, and we felt we needed to get there immediately,” Francesco says. Three days later, the couple were on a plane, and three months later, they bought a house on the island of Eysturoy, in the tiny village of Elduvík, where Francesco and Anja joined 13 villagers. “There’s no bus, no stress, no shop, no meetings,” he laughs. Slow fashion made to last The couple’s new life began, and, according to Francesco, it now involves