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.

Woolmark’s latest ad campaign, Wear Wool, Not Waste, visualises this unnaturally long lifespan as a zombie horror and showcases pure wool products as a more sustainable alternative. The campaign was devised by 20(Something), where creative partner Will Thacker set out to illustrate “the chilling realisation that every single synthetic item ever produced still exists and haunts our planet”.

“Whether in landfills or manifesting as microplastics, they are omnipresent. To drive this home, we wanted to draw parallels to the horror genre, specifically a zombie-ravaged world. We wanted to tap into the phenomenon of the Netflix adaptation of The Last of Us. The parallels between how synthetics are being dispersed across our globe are akin to the harrowing spread of the deadly zombie-inducing fungus.”

The ad was directed by Sil van der Woerd and Jorik Dozy, otherwise known as Studio Birthplace, who worked with Woolmark on a film in 2022, following on from powerful environmental campaigns for organisations like Greenpeace. “The extraordinary VFX team skilfully animated the disheartening surge of synthetic garments, a stark reminder of our daily environmental impact on our planet,” the directors said.

This was led by VFX supervisor Tim Smit, and involved filming an actor performing  movements in motion capture, which were then digitally mapped to create a 3D model for the animated garments. The team used a base of roughly 50 individual pieces of clothing, which they transformed using different colours, textures and shapes to create “over 10,000 possible outfit combinations”, Smit explains.

The animated clothing was also modelled specifically to create a sense of a real crowd, rather than isolated pieces of clothing. “Most agents were programmed to avoid each other, but in cases where they did collide, we used motion capture data to generate realistic interaction physics,” he adds. “Once they collided with the terrain however, or objects such as cars or signposts, the model would fall down realistically and only the clothing would remain.”

This was a particularly difficult part of the process. “One of the biggest challenges was transitioning the 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,” explains Smit. “Our artists spent two months refining this system to ensure it was robust and realistic. When it finally worked, the team was ecstatic.”

Beyond promoting wool specifically, the ad serves as a generally helpful PSA for shoppers who aren’t aware of the damage caused by synthetic materials. The campaign film ties in with Woolmark’s ongoing efforts to encourage retailers and brands to use clearer labelling and signposting when it comes to fabric composition.

Credits:
Agency: 20(Something)
ECD: William Thacker
Creative: Cathryn Carey
Production Company: Park Village
Film Creative and Post-Production: Studio Birthplace
Directors and Creatives: Sil van der Woerd, Jorik Dozy
Director of Photography: Lennert Hillege
VFX Director: Tim Smit