All ound pieces are one-of-a-kind and can only be made in limited editions. The intricate process of making ensures the precious nature of each ound item. Thoughtful craftsmanship establishes an emotional bond between the garment and the person wearing it. ound believes that the greatest luxury is to be found living in tune with ourselves and in alignment with our values. In this day and age, the real nature of luxury is intimate and lies in simplicity and high quality materials.

ound is an investigative project by designer Paula Delgado. From 2015 to 2017, she spent several months in rural Argentina and Scotland, learning about wool production, weaving and knitting, and teaching herself the art of botanical dye. Paula is inspired by the philosophy of permaculture, a holistic design system for creating harmonious relations between humans, plants, animals, and the Earth, which she translates into a contemporary aesthetic rooted in simplicity and humble luxury. Through her background as a high-level fashion designer for two leading global fast fashion corporations, she gained a profound awareness of the harmful nature of an industry that is based on high-speed turnover, overproduction and waste. With ound, she presents an almost meditative approach and an alternative to a broken system – a thoughtful design practice that is based on an appreciation of materials and matter and evolves and matures over time.

ound designs their wool pieces in their studio, taking inspiration from the things that surround them. They like to create from what they already have, taking vintage pieces or their own garments as a starting point, until they naturally evolve into a new design. Playing with different stitches and proportions to create pieces that are comfortable and rich in texture, visually and tactilely, is an essential part of this process. This involves a lot of dialogue with the artisans who knit the pieces. In fact, hand-knitting involves a lot of calculations and decisions that affect the structure of the garment. It's not just your grandmother sitting on the sofa and knitting you a woollen pullover; it’s about exploring different tensions and different needles in each part of the garment, moving the stitches until finding the perfect recipe to obtain and maintain the shape. It is like architecture of clothing; what they mean by saying their pieces are knitted to perfection.

Their garments are hand-knitted by a group of independent female artisans led by Gabriella, an incredible knitter who is also a physics teacher. Her background can be seen in the perfection of the garments: she pours all of her knowledge and calculations into the pieces she develops. Most of the female artisans who work with ound live in Santa Lucía, a small city in the countryside of Uruguay, and they work from their homes. Each of ound's hand-knitted garments takes three to five days to be crafted. 

Knitting in itself is a zero-waste process, since the knitted fabric is created with the exact shape of the pattern, which means that the fabric is generated in the same knitting process, without cuttings. Also, ound reuses every small bit of thread that they have for sewing the pieces of the garment together or as a part of the packaging. Finally, ound pieces are finished in their studio, where they take care of details such as putting the labels and preparing the packaging. ound tries to develop the packaging using materials that they already have in-house and making designs that can also be reusable, as a way to avoid creating extra waste. They use deadstock fabrics or repurposed materials and collaborate with other local circular projects to achieve a packaging that protects the pieces as it is useful and has a positive impact on the environment and the society.