The Origins of Wooly Red
The story of Wooly Rouge does not begin in a garage, but in 2000 in a market in Sarajevo. It was there, a few steps from the streets of her childhood, that Nadira Škaljić had the decisive encounter on which she would build a life project that would lead to the creation of Wooly Rouge.
"I had a long conversation with this simple and dignified woman, and understood that the sweater she was selling told her whole story: the tradition she had inherited, her talent as a knitter, but also what she had been through."
This meeting led to the creation of the NGO "Udružene" , which means "united women" in Bosnian, through which Nadira would professionalize the experience of the knitters with the ambition of transforming an activity that had been domestic until then into a real, recognized and valued professional activity .
“I remember my grandmother, sitting by the stove in the kitchen. If she wasn’t cooking, she was knitting. I wanted this tradition to continue and find its place in our modern world.”
Deeply attached to her country of birth, Nadira also saw in this professionalization an opportunity to safeguard the tradition of knitting, deeply rooted in Bosnian culture .
Several hundred knitters will be trained in the demands of the fashion industry in Udružene's workshops, spread across different regions of Bosnia. For them, this represents a true personal and social revolution : knitting becomes a recognized and paid skill, on par with any other profession. Without leaving their homes, they gain new status and independence.
In xxx years, more than 299,000 pieces will be produced by nearly 400 women for designers from all over the world , seduced by the quality of exclusively handmade work, and the creative potential offered by the handmade and the expertise of the knitters.
Today, knitters are still at the center of the Wooly Rouge creation and production process .
Nadira Skaljic is not a creator who is master of all things, but listens, learns, and is inspired by the knitters around her.
" I can't say that the Wooly Rouge designs are 'my' creations, because each design contains a part of the knitter who made it ."
This reality is made tangible by the signature of the person who knitted each piece.
In 2020 , after ten years working for international designers, Nadira Škaljić felt the time was right to launch her own brand.
“ My workshop leaders had been thinking about it for months, just like me! We had acquired unique expertise and this rare ability to test innovative ideas in our workshop. I was keen to bring the knitters into my own creative process. They are passionate, they test, they explore, they delve into new avenues, they are heirs to stitches or tips sometimes passed down from their grandmothers… They are true explorers of knitting, they have a talent, an experience that I absolutely wanted to better showcase. And Wooly Rouge was going to make that possible!”
That's the great originality of Wooly Rouge!
The designer is not in control of everything, but listens and draws inspiration from the knitters around her.
"I can't say that the Wooly Rouge models are " my" models,
because in each of them there is a part of each of us and of the knitter who made it.
I firmly believe this: there is a soul in every piece produced."
This reality is made tangible by the signature of the person who knitted each piece.