Warm in spite of cold. A visitor wearing the traditional Iceland “lopapeysa” sweater. PIC Ben Husmann
C hances are you´ll not walk far after landing in Iceland without coming across souvenir shops advertising the Icelandic “Lopapeysa” which is simply the traditional Icelandic wool sweater.
The lopapeysa sweater has a long history here and can doubtless be credited for people surviving here in times past. It is made purely from Iceland wool and that particular wool is quite special. Local sheep, you see, have been here isolated for so long they are remarkably different from sheep from neighboring countries, including their wool which is often thicker than seen anywhere else in the world and also more rain-resistant than most other wool in the world.
IceWear is not the only company using this disgusting sale tactic
Not surprisingly, those sweaters are popular among tourist which is why not a shop opens here nowadays without offering a great selection of “wooly” things. Quite a step from only 20 years ago when such sweaters were frowned upon and only hillbillies and farmers dared show up anywhere in their Icelandic lopapeysa. But that´s another story.
What we wanted to tell you is that the sweaters, nice and comfy and quite fashionable too, being sold in stores here are often not made in Iceland. Indeed, companies like the popular IceWear has been fined again and again for selling wool products as being made in this country quite contrary to the truth. It is, after all, easier to make a vast profit by having them done in some rural Chinese factory, stick a Made in Iceland label on and then just lie to customers. IceWear is not the only company using this disgusting sale tactic.
Perhaps you do not mind being lied to in which case this article was a waste of your time. If you do, and you want to buy the genuine article, get in touch with us. We´ll recommend some 100% locally made products. We cannot do so publicly or else lawsuits would follow and we´re too few and tiny to deal with such matters.
