Jóhann Viking
Icelandic wool sweater
In Iceland you have to dress warm 90% of the year. Even during summer! Iceland is not like most other countries, where you can be lightly dressed during summer. Of course there are days when you can, but sad but true it‘s pretty cold in the summer in Iceland. Because of this Icelanders have a lot of excellent warm clothing and some really good clothing brands, like 66North, Icewear and Cintamani, just to name the big ones.
But what we‘re probably best known for in clothing design and production is our wool sweater (lopapeysa). The lopapeysa is made from Icelandic lamb wool and hand-knitted by Icelandic women. You can get this sweater in all kinds of patterns and versions. Back in the day it was mostly fishermen and farmers who wore this sweater to keep the horrible cold at bay that forms up here in the Arctic. It keeps you really warm – after all it is made from the wool of the sheep that lives in Icelandic nature and has had to develop this wool to keep warm. Could anything be more natural? Iceland is the best.
Nowadays it‘s become a trendy clothing item. You see a lot of tourists wearing a lopapeysa when they walk up and down the main shopping strip in Reykjavik, Laugavegur. To come to Iceland and buy something that is made from Icelandic wool is a must for the traveller.
If you take a stroll up Laugavegur in Reykjavik, you‘ll notice that every other store sells wool products. You can buy wool sweaters, hats, mittens, socks, blankets and probably loads more that I haven‘t mentioned. I think the Icewear store on Laugavegur has the best selection of wool wear. I strongly recommend checking it out. One actually can‘t decide what to buy there, they have so much to offer.
But whatever you do, buy a lopapeysa!