Behold: the Rambouillet Merino sheep. This remarkable breed is the foundation and lifeline of Duckworth. A quick history lesson for those of you that care about where your clothing comes from... Domesticated sheep descend from a wild species inhabiting ancient Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq, Iran, Turkey, etc.). Some 13,000 years ago, people discovered sheep’s wool to be both incredibly warm and breathable, with durability to boot: Nature’s perfect textile fiber, with applicable benefits regardless if you lived on a hostilely cold mountaintop or in an oppressively hot desert. Because of this mass adoption, the value of sheep’s wool skyrocketed to royal proportions (more on that soon) and remained there for centuries. Yet despite this vast usage, not all wool was created equal. Because wool is a natural fiber derived from living animals, characteristics of wool (such as the thickness, measured today in “microns”) varied from breed to breed. What emerged as the most coveted wool was that harvested from Merino sheep. Merino sheep produce a wool that is more lightweight, “crimpier” and finer than what’s found in any other wool clip. For us humans, finer = softer. Merino sheep originated in Spain sometime around the 1600s/1700s, and we weren’t kidding when we said these sheep boasted a royal pedigree. Merino began to rival cashmere (from the Kashmir goat) as the world’s most luxurious textile, and the Kingdom of Spain found themselves with a lock on the market. These ruminants were so valuable to the country that exporting Merino sheep without royal permission was punishable by death. Yeah…These were some seriously special sheep. Nobody knows exactly how he pulled this off, but in the late 1700’s, the King of France managed to strike a deal with the King of Spain, and a flock of hand-picked Merino sheep made their way to the French town of Rambouillet. These sheep were carefully cross bred with long-wool breeds hailing originally from England, and thus, the Rambouillet Merino was born. (CONTINUED BELOW)