We’re over-the-moon to welcome Fonty, the 145-year-old French yarnmakers running one of the last remaining wool spinning and dyeing facilities still in operation in France—in a very modern way! Danielle met with the Fonty team at the annual trade show for our industry (h + h Americas) earlier this year and was blown away by Fonty’s history and commitment to the highest standards of yarnmaking. We prioritize makers who are having a huge impact on the wool industries in their local communities. Over the coming days, we’ll be featuring all the amazing new yarns we are stocking, but today, we’d like to introduce you to the brand.

La Filature de Rougnat (The Spinner of Rougnat)

Created in 1880 in Rougnat, Creuse, France, Fonty is “La Filature de Rougnat” (The Spinner of Rougnat). The company is one of the last wool-spinning and dyeing factories in France. It is an officially designated Living Heritage Company (Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant, or EPV), which the French Ministry of Economics awards to recognize French businesses with “an economic heritage, composed in particular of a rare, renowned or ancestral know-how, based on the mastery of traditional techniques or high technicality and limited to a territory.”  Awarded in 2017 and renewed in 2022, the EPV designation recognizes Fonty’s nearly 150 years of yarnmaking excellence.

What Danielle learned at h + h is that fibre space was already familiar with Fonty’s fine work. The factory produces yarns for its own collection, as well as for other brands—one of which is De Rerum Natura! In addition to spinning and dyeing yarns you’ll find at your LYS, Fonty also produces yarn on demand for industrial fibre and textile companies; it also prepares fibres for smaller French wool farmers, so the farmers may sell their own wool.

Entreprise éthique, durable et respectueuse de l’environnement (Ethical, sustainable and eco-responsible business)

Fonty is dedicated to sustainable and ethical manufacturing at every step of yarnmaking. From the farms and land from which it sources raw fibres, to conserving energy and water use, to reducing waste, Fonty maintains an ecological awareness at the heart of its brand.

Fils Fonty (Fonty Yarns)

So which yarns are on our shelves right now?

• Cocache: a drapey, fingering-weight blend of cotton and cashmere that is machine washable!
• Tartan 6: a woolen-spun Aran weight that blends dyed and natural white wool to create gorgeous heathered colors—also machine washable!

And, more yarns are also on the way! Stay tuned for more details and pattern recs. You can find these fabulous French yarns only in our Alexandria store.