Icelands' craft knitters battle against Chinese imports

(10 Jun 2019) LEADIN:
Trouble is rattling one of Iceland's most traditional industries, the production of the distinctive, hand-knitted "lopi" sweaters adored by tourists and worn with pride by locals.
Local knitters are tired of seeing profit margins diminished by "Icelandic" sweaters actually made in China, albeit from authentic wool from Iceland.
STORYLINE:
The circular pattern is a relatively modern invention, but Icelanders have been knitting for centuries from lopi wool.
Icelanders says the sheep's wool here is different, because the sheep haven't been interbred, but over many years evolved to withstand the harsh sub-arctic conditions.
The unspun "lopi" yarn is gathered from Iceland's 500,000 sheep, with a woollen fleece adapted to a rugged landscape with widely fluctuating temperatures.
This shop is stacked to the brim with jumpers, but hours of work go into the making of these handmade sweaters.
They're a must have souvenir for tourists, but according to the Handknitting Association of Iceland local manufacturers are now struggling to compete for business, because their expertise and labour are being outsourced.
Containers full of local yarn are shipped from here to Hong Kong and then back again, with the imported sweaters labeled as "hand-knitted from Icelandic wool".
Knitting co-ops around Iceland, struggling to compete, last month urged the government to forbid companies to brand woollen sweaters as "Icelandic" unless they are made locally.
"Imagine the carbon footprint. To ship containers of Icelandic wool to Hong Kong and have it processed there and then back, halfway around the globe," says the Association's Chairwoman Thuridur Einarsdottir.
Icelandic women have traditionally subsidized household income with the work and today many sweeten their retirement years with the extra cash.
With Chinese imports grabbing an estimated two-third market share _ particularly among tourists _ knitting co-ops around the country worry about the future.
Heiddis Gunnarsdottir is finishing off a sweater, she says: "I reckon this sweater has taken some 20 or 25 hours to knit -- almost finished."
Einarsdóttir says: "The imports are replicas and we know replicas are not the real thing. But people buy it as an authentic product, just like being sold a fake version of a famous cloth brand. And then maybe much later (when they're) at home people realize the sweater has been made in Asia."
The thick sweaters are impossible to make in a machine. The quality of each garment ultimately comes down to the skill of the individual knitter, raising the question what ultimately makes the sweater "Icelandic" beyond the "lopi" yarn.
The Nordic store sells jumpers that look the same, look at the label and you will see it says: "Hand knitted from Icelandic wool".
Store owner Bjarni Jonsson argues this isn't about deception.
To domestically produce the roughly 20,000 sweaters made in China annually the Nordic Store company estimates it would need 200 to 250 women working full time in a country of 350,000 people.
Jonsson says: "The main reason for us to have it knitted outside Iceland is that we don't have the capacity to do it here. We would need something like 200 - 250 women or men to knit full time and we don't have that many knitters."
Jonsson is also questioning the Association's claim about how the woollen products are labelled Icelandic.
One adult-size sweater takes altogether about 14 - 25 hours to knit, depending on colour variety and extra features like zippers and buttons.
The Handknitting Association of Iceland represents a group of 400 women and two men.
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[@marykoritheasmith2411]

When I'm in Iceland, I want knits and goods from Iceland.

[@georginatoland]

If it was made in China, then it was made by people whose labor was exploited. Not very Icelandic at all.

[@giannamarchesi9874]

E' possibileAcquistare lana da vii pee fare un maglione Riddari??😅

[@bjrngumundsen939]

takk mamma fyrir handprjóna peysuna sem þú gerðir handa mér.🥰

[@k.k.2191]

Well, minimum wage and also social security is much expensive in Iceland. No wonder China is winning big time with burning human lives.