(I am wearing a Hédus jacket ( Lennox model ) and a fantastic sleeveless vest from the Cadot brand)
As you know, the BGAH-01 boots in collaboration with Heschung feature wool inserts.
And it’s not just any wool, since we worked with Arpin, a soon-to-be bicentennial spinning mill and Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant.
Zoom in on the Arpin wool inserts of the BGAH-01, note the richness of the texture.
As the label indicates, it is a true part of French heritage, which continues to be worked in an artisanal manner. Today we are going to discover the 8 steps to go from wool wadding to creating a beautiful woolen cloth.
The historic building of the Arpin spinning mill.
How do you get a woolen cloth?
1. Washing
We start by washing the freshly shorn wool, which is still dirty and greasy . The company only uses soapy water, and has banned all chemical treatment, in order to preserve the natural resistance of the fiber.
The material is then left to dry in the open air, and regularly stirred for optimal drying.
The wool is left to dry in enormous attics called “galetas”.
2. Threshing
Once the wool is dry, it is passed through a mixer , which will aerate the fiber and remove the last impurities.
It has metal rods which will comb it in order to maintain its length (the length of the fiber depends on its resistance). Olein is then added , a vegetable fat that can be easily cleaned (unlike animal fats), and which provides flexibility and “creaminess” to the material.
3. Combing
The wool is then passed through a machine called a "wolf" , because of its teeth which resemble the mouth of the animal. This step aims to comb the wool, so that it is untangled, finer and lighter.
And here is the beast!
4. Carding
Next comes the carding stage, where the material is transformed into wool veil . We end up with a "beginning" of thread, still very fragile, but which is starting to get closer to the woolen cloth.
You can very clearly see the veil aspect of the wool, the result is extremely fine.
5. Spinning
The veil obtained will be rolled into coils . This process is done using a machine which will wind the wire lengthwise around a spindle. The number of revolutions made per minute will also determine the resistance of the wire.
6. Warping
The warping machine, from the verb "to order", is the device spreading the wire from the spool . This phase allows the thread to be the right width, taking into account the loom on which it will be used.
During the warping stage, the weaving of the roll of woolen cloth is prepared by knotting the threads together. Once again, incredible technical skill is required.
7. Weaving
The roll is now ready to go to the loom. Arpin uses “jacquard” type looms, weaving together more than 2,000 threads. This allows complex patterns to be weaved by ordering each warp thread separately.
8. Washing and drying
The roll of woolen cloth is now ready, all that remains is to wash it to remove the olein previously added, and to wring it out so that it dries.
Bonus: fulling
We told you about it, this is the step allowing certain wool sheets to be densified (this is not systematic), including the Bonneval sheet used on the BGAH-01.
Arpin continues to use these old fullers, now classified as National Heritage.
And that's how we obtain wool sheets that are as durable as they are rich in color.
By Sunday, we will explain to you how the leather of Heschung shoes is tanned, in the Haas tanneries in Alsace. But also how to wear Heschung boots in many very different looks.
Thank you to the Arpin spinning mill and to Héloïse Jost for our visit to this very beautiful example of French artisanal heritage.
