Fiber
Lesley Roberts
world’s oldest pants

With the help of an expert weaver, archaeologists have unraveled the design secrets behind the world’s oldest pants. The 3,000-year-old wool trousers belonged to a man buried between 1000 and 1200 BCE in Western China. To make them, ancient weavers combined four different techniques to create a garment specially engineered for fighting on horseback, with flexibility in some places and sturdiness in others.

world’s oldest pants
Resources
Lesley Roberts
How to Shear Sheep and Why It's Important

This compelling 12-minute film showcases the beautiful dance between sheep and shearer, the importance of sheep shearing to the health and well-being of sheep, and the impact that Slow Fashion and local wool have on the economy and local community.

How to Shear Sheep and Why It's Important
Community News, Perspective
Lesley Roberts
The Future is Wool: NASA

After a 1.4-million-mile mission beyond the Moon and back, the Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I mission arrived back at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on 30 December 2022. On board was wool air filter technology developed by New Zealand-based Lanaco.

The Future is Wool: NASA
Perspective
Lesley Roberts
Wool Pellets

“This has big implications. If Wool Pellets are picked up for in-store placement, we estimate Lowe’s will purchase 1.5 million pounds of wool pellets annually for their stores.”

Wool Pellets

fashion

Dhaka Muslin: Wonder and Mystery

Dhaka, Bangladesh has lived in our collective memory since the 2013 Rana Plaza factory collapse. Recently an article has come out detailing some of its rich, lengthy, textile legacy predating the age of fast fashion.

This BBC article chronicles the life, death, and revitalization of Dhaka muslin, the luxury cloth depicted in many historical portraits.

It’s an enlightening, heartbreaking, and ultimately inspiring story touching on the many historical intersections of textiles, technology, fashion, artisanship, imperialism, industrialization, and revitalization.

Learn more about the work of Saiful Islam and Bengal Muslin here.

If this story speaks to you, you might also be interested in Exploring Sustainable Fashion Beyond Consumerism: Intersections, Power Dynamics, and Activism.

Photo Credit: Bengal Muslin