The following pieces are written by five Fibershed producer members offering their perspectives on the creation of a community-constructed sweater using Santa Cruz Island sheep wool.
Read MoreMonth: April 2022
How 10 innovative makers and designers are incorporating Climate Beneficial fiber into their products
At Fibershed, we see a nourishing tradition emerging that connects us to the fields where clothes are grown in a system that can last for countless generations into the future. […]
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Alley Cropping in the Liminal Zone: Growing Resilience in the San Joaquin Valley
What will the San Joaquin Valley–home to one quarter of the nation’s food production–look like fifty years from now? Fifth-generation farmer Nathanael Gonzales-Siemens and a team of farming and fiber systems advocates are undertaking an experiment in Buttonwillow, CA that may determine part of the answer.
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Unpacking ‘Sustainable’ Fashion
“Sustainability, as defined and measured in fashion, is currently an elitist, even imperialistic concept,” says Veronica Kassatly, analyst and consultant for data-based sustainability claims. In this four-part series, Kassatly examines how Western brands, consumers, and activists define the conversation around sustainability, based on their own interests and cultural values. She brings light to unfounded assertions about the long-lasting fiber traditions of wool, silk, and alpaca production in an effort to map out better solutions for moving toward “sustainable” fashion that is truly sustainable and socially just.
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Community is a Plant that Grows
Sarah arrived in balmy Penngrove, California to a plot of neglected land, overgrown with Spanish wild oats (Avena Barbata) in 2014. The adobe ground dried out and large cracks opened up the dry earth in the summer. She had two small children and no practical farming experience. A couple of scraggly oaks and willows adorned the edges of the property, with frequent traffic speeding by on the highway-like road. The house was small, awkward, and in disarray. She set down her roots and got to work.
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