PETA, the world’s largest animal rights organisation, claims that the wool industry frequently leaves sheep shaken and bloodied in shearing sheds following wool shearing procedures. It hopes to encourage the development of a vegan wool material that is visually, texturally and functionally comparable to or better than sheep’s wool by launching a challenge with significant prize funding.
According to PETA, the innovative material should be scalable and capable of serving as a wool replacement that major apparel brands could incorporate into their clothing lines.
PETA judges will assess the submissions and award US $ 1 million to the first individual, group, or company which PETA determines has successfully created a bio-based natural fibre or bioengineered fibre with 100 percent traceable inputs, low pilling, soft to touch, producible in multiple weights, biodegradable, and, perhaps most importantly, the look, feel and performance of wool.
When it comes to PETA’s Phase 2 judging, the material must be adopted and sold by a major clothing brand, preferably by one of the top ten global retail brands. Vegan wool must be manufactured in large enough quantities to be sold as a standard inventory item by at least one of the top ten global clothing retail brands. At least one of the world’s top ten clothing retailers successfully markets the product to customers.
Entrants should submit the form online and vegan wool samples must be mailed to PETA’s American headquarters.
