“I Wool Survive” Is Saving Gay Rams
“The sheep are killed for being gay.”
That’s how designer Michael Schmidt described it to The New York Times. Around six to eight per cent of domestic rams prefer male partners exclusively. On traditional farms, that makes them useless for breeding. So they get sent to slaughter.
But not anymore. Not if a German farmer, a celebrity designer, and a dating app have anything to say about it.
The collection that started on LinkedIn.
When Nadia Leytes from Rainbow Wool, a German nonprofit rescuing same-sex-attracted rams, messaged Grindr in August 2024, she was hoping for a sponsorship. Maybe an ad campaign. What she got was a 36-piece fashion collection, a runway show in New York City, and headlines around the world.
The collection, titled I Wool Survive, debuted at The Altman Building on the 13th of November 2025. Every piece was handknitted from the wool of rams who prefer other rams.
The science is real.
According to long-term studies led by Charles Roselli at Oregon Health and Science University, around six to eight per cent of domestic rams display an exclusive preference for male partners throughout their lives. This isn’t about dominance or flock hierarchy. These rams simply prefer rams. Research published in the journal Endocrinology found differences in brain structure between male-oriented and female-oriented rams, suggesting sexual preference is neurologically determined.
How a German shepherd saved them.
Michael Stücke, a farmer near Cologne and member of a gay farmers’ association, started Rainbow Wool in 2021. His farm near Cologne now operates as a sanctuary, sometimes bidding against slaughterhouses to save rams marked for death.
“Scientific studies have shown that around one in twelve rams naturally prefer other males, and while many of these animals are typically sent to slaughter, our farm offers them a different fate,” Stücke said.
His message is direct. Being gay is part of nature.
“This collaboration with Grindr proves that being gay is part of nature itself,” Stücke explained. “The wool from these rams isn’t just material. It’s a message spun from animals who live freely and are loved.”
Why Grindr saw something bigger.
Tristan Pineiro, Grindr’s Senior Vice President (SVP) of Marketing and Communications, recognised a deeper story.
“The gay sheep get discarded, get forgotten, are seen as not valuable,” he said. “But through them, two people who would never otherwise have met, a German sheep farmer and a Los Angeles designer, got connected and together created something beautiful.”
For Pineiro, the sheep represent something familiar. Dismissed. Forgotten. Seen as less than.
“You can’t say the sheep were corrupted by woke culture,” Pineiro added.
The collection itself is gloriously camp.
Schmidt, the Los Angeles designer behind the collection, has created pieces for Cher, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, and Lil Nas X. His work sits in permanent collections at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
For I Wool Survive, he leaned hard into humour. The 36 looks featured classic archetypes: the pool boy, the pizza delivery guy, the wrestler in a wool singlet, the sailor, the cowboy, the leather daddy. Every fantasy, rendered in wool.
The accessories were equally committed. A wool newspaper. A wool pizza. Wool handcuffs.
“People tend to notice things that are sexy,” Schmidt said. “They gravitate toward that, especially if there is humor involved. So I thought, ‘Well, that’s a good way to draw the eyeball, which gets you to the story.'”
Each runway seat came with a wool bandana tucked into a denim pocket. A nod to the hanky code.
What happens next.
Several pieces from the collection will be auctioned throughout 2026, with proceeds supporting LGBTQIA+ initiatives. Grindr has committed to supporting Rainbow Wool’s mission over the coming year.
At DNA, we’ve covered plenty of fashion moments. But a collection made entirely from the wool of rescued gay sheep? That might be a first.
Is it bizarre? Yes. Is it camp? Absolutely. Does it carry a genuine message about nature, survival, and connection? Without question.
As Nadia Leytes from Rainbow Wool put it: “Being gay is natural. It’s part of life.”
