On a windy autumn day, the gently rolling hills outside Rome set the stage for an unlikely gathering. Wool producers, designers, activists and even model, actor and farmer Isabella Rossellini and her daughter came together at the farm of Ilaria Venturini Fendi — not to celebrate fashion’s top tier, but to rethink it entirely.

“It’s tough producing wool in Italy,” said Fendi, who keeps 600 sheep at her agriturismo, or working guest farm, on the outskirts of the capital. “It’s become a waste product. You can’t do the whole chain anymore. We need to change ideas — to start reshaping economies.”

Across Europe and North America, the picture is bleak: wool — a water- and fire-resistant biodegradable fibre that naturally regulates body temperature — is often burned or discarded because processi

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