Wool from gay sheep debuts in fashion designer’s collection

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Wool from a flock of cheerful sheep made its debut in the designer's fashion line at a recent show in New York.

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Artist and designer Michael Schmidt's new collection, “I Wool Survive,” features 36 handmade dresses made entirely from fabric sourced from Rainbow Wool, a German gay sheep farm that teamed up with gay dating app Grindr to raise awareness of the collection.

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Research shows that one in 12 Rams is gay. This statistic prompted herder Michael Stack to start his nonprofit after he learned that conventional farms end up killing unmated animals.

“This collaboration with Grindr proves that being gay is part of nature,” Stucke said.

“The wool of these sheep is not just a material – it is a message of animals who live freely and are loved.”

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How Grindr got involved

Tristan Pineiro, Grindr's senior vice president of brand marketing and communications, was looking for a “gay designer who could put on a gay show” and ended up contacting Schmidt, who said New York Times that he “really wanted to lean toward the gays.”

Stucke's vision of the Grindr brand and happy sheep seemed like destiny.

“Sheep are kind of a metaphor for all of us,” Pinheiro said.

“Because they're gay, they get thrown out. They get thrown out because they don't live up to what they're supposed to be.”

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Fashion for good

According to Grindr, the jerseys include everything from traditional polos and miniskirts to “leather dad belts,” “sailor bands” and “firefighter braces.”

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Schmidt said that while the “light-hearted collection…redefines gay identity,” he added that it also deals with another very serious topic.

“Cruelty to animals that exhibit same-sex attraction is a painful reminder of the prejudice that continues to affect LGBT communities around the world,” the designer said, according to Outside magazine.

“I hope by demonstrating that homosexuality exists throughout the animal kingdom, we can help end the false and destructive idea that being gay is a choice.”

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“Selling an Idea”

Schmidt said this Timeadding that he considers it more of an art project than a fashion line.

“It’s more about selling an idea than a collection of clothes,” he said. “The idea that he is selling is that homosexuality is not only part of human existence, but also part of the animal kingdom.”

Pineiro added: “It’s not as if the sheep were corrupted by the revival culture.”

Items sold will be auctioned off to benefit LGBTQ+ people.

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