That was an extraordinary fashion show even by New York standards: Last Thursday, fashion fans at the Altman Building in the Chelsea neighborhood attended the show “I Wool Survive,” a collaboration between gay American designer Michael Schmidt and Rainbow Wool, an East Westphalia-based project that saves gay ram lambs from an early death — and provides the wool used in the show.
Schmidt, who normally outfits icons such as Lady Gaga, Cher, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Madonna, or Kylie Minogue, created 36 looks that were made exclusively with Rainbow Wool sourced from faraway Germany. The show was organized by Grindr, the world’s largest queer dating app.
The collection reinterprets familiar queer archetypes—think leather-clad men, firefighters, sailors, or knights. These hyper-masculine motifs are rendered in soft knitted wool and sometimes accented with rainbow yarns. Highlights include a knitted hospital-dress (a “Playing-Doctor” fantasy), coveralls in a farmer’s look, or harnesses that typically read as leather-inspired, but are knitted here.
View this post on Instagram
Instagram
|
The Rainbow Wool comes entirely from the sheep farmer Michael Stücke’s farm in Löhne. The backstory is that gay ram lambs in industrial breeding have no value and are typically slaughtered quickly. Stücke saves these sheep from slaughter and makes them part of his flock. The sheep repay him with wool.
Thanks to prominent support from Bill Kaulitz, Rainbow Wool quickly gained attention. The Tokio Hotel icon adopted two sheep as part of a promotional campaign. With the New York show, the gay sheep have now arrived in the wider queer world. (dk)
