Wear Wool, Not Waste

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Every single synthetic clothing item ever produced still exists in some form, haunting our planet.

Tapping into the zombie-horror phenomenon, Wear Wool, Not Waste aims to educate consumers on the lifespan of their synthetic clothes. Whether in landfills or manifesting as microplastics, synthetics are omnipresent globally.

Directors

Jorik Dozy & Sil van der Woerd

Producer

Alice Windeler

VFX Supervisor

Tim Smit

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Wool War Z

People want their clothes to last – or at least for as long as they still own them. But when throwaway clothing is literally thrown away, it lasts far longer than most people could imagine. Research shows that synthetic fabrics such as polyester could still be intact for hundreds of years, which is a rather big problem when you consider the vast quantities already piling up in landfills.

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In our latest campaign with Woolmark, Wear Wool, Not Waste, we visualize this unnaturally long lifespan as a zombie horror and showcase pure wool products as a more sustainable alternative.

"The fast fashion industry is accelerating the environmental crisis at an alarming rate, with synthetic fibres infiltrating our bodies and polluting our planet for centuries. It’s critical that we understand the hidden impact of fast fashion, and take responsibility towards transitioning to natural, sustainable alternatives. With this film, we wanted to amplify the urgency of the issue by bringing to life the unstoppable stampede of synthetic clothes that pollutes our world, to provoke change from consumers and industry."

Directors Sil van der Woerd & Jorik Dozy

Clothing Zombies

Each empty shell of clothing is designed to resemble human figures, creating a haunting visual as they race through the streets, embodying the idea that discarded garments continue to affect our world long after they've been thrown away.

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To get the effects spot on, the SFX team brought in massive air-pressure cannons, which we ended up calling “anti-vacuum cannons.” These were loaded with synthetic garments and shot directly onto the set, creating a physical, interactive experience for the actors and everything around them. Clothes hit props like a bus and a car, allowing for a more realistic integration with the CGI added later.

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Check out some behind the scenes clips:

On top of the practical effects we added a ton of digital visual effects. One of the biggest challenges was transitioning the zombie crowd from motion capture to ragdoll animation—where an agent falls and its body reacts naturally to the ground—followed by full-body cloth simulation. Our artists spent two months refining this system to ensure it was robust and realistic. When it finally worked, the team was ecstatic!

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Check out a more detailed breakdown of the visual effects below:

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